Can gemma 3 12b it run on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

Q: Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for gemma 3 12b it?

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.

YES — Runs Great

C50Usable

Estimated — low-sample bucket· few comparable runs

gemma 3 12b it needs ~12.2 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M4 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~10 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 12.2 GB, 10.4 tok/s, Runs well

12.2 GB required17.3 GB available

71% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

10.4 tok/s

TTFT

18639 ms

Safe context

74K

Memory

12.2 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights7.3 GB

KV Cache1.4 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsgemma 3 12b it on MacBook Air M4 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 10.4 tok/s decode · 18.6s TTFT (warm) · 26 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

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.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs well	10.4 tok/s	10167 ms	74K
Coding	C	Runs well	10.4 tok/s	18639 ms	74K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	10.4 tok/s	27111 ms	74K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	10.4 tok/s	22028 ms	74K
RAG	C	Runs well	10.4 tok/s	33889 ms	74K

Quantization options

How gemma 3 12b it (12B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M4 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.7 GB	Low	C48
Q3_K_S	3	5.9 GB	Low	C49
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run gemma 3 12b it on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-maziyarpanahi--gemma-3-12b-it-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs gemma 3 12b it well

MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GBBudget pick

32 GB Unified (+8)400 GB/s (+280)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 205%.31.7 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 205%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GBBest value

32 GB Unified (+8)400 GB/s (+280)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 189%.30.1 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 189%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$2,499 MSRP

MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GBApple upgrade

36 GB Unified (+12)410 GB/s (+290)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 239%.35.3 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 239%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$2,499 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run gemma 3 12b it?

Yes, MacBook Air M4 24GB can run gemma 3 12b it with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 10.4 tok/s.

How much VRAM does gemma 3 12b it need?

gemma 3 12b it (12B parameters) requires approximately 12.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for gemma 3 12b it?

The recommended quantization for gemma 3 12b it is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will gemma 3 12b it run at on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, gemma 3 12b it achieves approximately 10.4 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 18639ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run gemma 3 12b it for coding?

For coding workloads, gemma 3 12b it on MacBook Air M4 24GB receives a C grade with 10.4 tok/s and 74K context.

What context window can gemma 3 12b it use on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, gemma 3 12b it can safely use up to 74K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for gemma 3 12b it?

See all results for MacBook Air M4 24GB See all hardware for gemma 3 12b it

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