NousResearch Hermes 4 14B needs ~21.4 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB has 69.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~27 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
27.2 tok/s
TTFT
7126 ms
Safe context
481K
Memory
21.4 GB / 69.1 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 | C | Runs well | 27.2 tok/s | 3887 ms | 481K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 27.2 tok/s | 7126 ms | 481K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs well | 27.2 tok/s | 10366 ms | 481K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 27.2 tok/s | 8422 ms | 481K |
| RAG | C | Runs well | 27.2 tok/s | 12957 ms | 481K |
How NousResearch Hermes 4 14B (14B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB (69.1 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 5.5 GB | Low | C40 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 6.9 GB | Low | C40 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B on your machine.
Run
lms load hf-bartowski--nousresearch-hermes-4-14b-gguf && lms server startUpgrade options
Raises estimated decode speed by about 100%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$3,999 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 89%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$3,999 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 140%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$6,999 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB can run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 27.2 tok/s.
NousResearch Hermes 4 14B (14B parameters) requires approximately 21.4 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for NousResearch Hermes 4 14B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B achieves approximately 27.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 7126ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B on MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB receives a C grade with 27.2 tok/s and 481K context.
On MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B can safely use up to 481K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, 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/hf-bartowski--nousresearch-hermes-4-14b-gguf-on-m2-max-96gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
7.8 GB |
| Medium |
| C40 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 8.5 GB | Medium | C41 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 10.1 GB | High | C41 |
Q6_K | 6 | 11.5 GB | High | C41 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 15.0 GB | Very High | C42 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 28.7 GB | Maximum | C44 |
Not always. MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GB 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.