Gemma 3 4B needs ~8.0 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M4 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~26 tok/s.
Operating mode
Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.
Current mode
Balanced
Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.
Select quantization to explore
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
25.9 tok/s
TTFT
7468 ms
Safe context
87K
Memory
8.0 GB / 17.3 GB
This setup is broadly balanced for this model.
Shared-memory contention still exists
The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | B | Runs well | 25.9 tok/s | 4074 ms | 87K |
| Coding | B | Runs well | 25.9 tok/s | 7468 ms | 87K |
| Agentic Coding | A | Runs well | 25.9 tok/s | 10863 ms | 87K |
| Reasoning | B | Runs well | 25.9 tok/s | 8826 ms | 87K |
| RAG | A | Runs well | 25.9 tok/s | 13579 ms | 87K |
How Gemma 3 4B (4B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M4 24GB (17.3 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 1.6 GB | Low | B67 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 2.0 GB | Low | B67 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run Gemma 3 4B on your machine.
Run
ollama run gemma3:4bUpgrade options
Raises estimated decode speed by about 116%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$1,999 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 76%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$1,999 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 116%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$2,499 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Air M4 24GB can run Gemma 3 4B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 25.9 tok/s.
Gemma 3 4B (4B parameters) requires approximately 8.0 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Gemma 3 4B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Gemma 3 4B achieves approximately 25.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 7468ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Gemma 3 4B on MacBook Air M4 24GB receives a B grade with 25.9 tok/s and 87K context.
On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Gemma 3 4B can safely use up to 87K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/gemma-3-4b-on-m4-air-24gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
2.2 GB |
| Medium |
| B67 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 2.4 GB | Medium | B67 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 2.9 GB | High | B68 |
Q6_K | 6 | 3.3 GB | High | B68 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 4.3 GB | Very High | B69 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 8.2 GB | Maximum | A72 |
Not always. MacBook Air M4 24GB can often fit larger models thanks to unified memory, but a discrete GPU with dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM may still decode faster once the model fits. For this combination, the important distinction is capacity versus sustained throughput.