Can Qwen 3.5 9B run on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

Q: Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen 3.5 9B?

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

S92Excellent

Estimated — low-sample bucket· few comparable runs

Qwen 3.5 9B needs ~11.2 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M4 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~16 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) — 11.2 GB, 15.6 tok/s, Runs well

11.2 GB required17.3 GB available

65% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

15.6 tok/s

TTFT

12438 ms

Safe context

60K

Memory

11.2 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache2.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3.5 9B on MacBook Air M4 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 15.6 tok/s decode · 12.4s TTFT (warm) · 39 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	S	Runs well	15.6 tok/s	6785 ms	60K
Coding	S	Runs well	15.6 tok/s	12438 ms	60K
Agentic Coding	S	Runs well	15.6 tok/s	18092 ms	60K
Reasoning	S	Runs well	15.6 tok/s	14700 ms	60K
RAG	S	Runs well	15.6 tok/s	22615 ms	60K

Quantization options

How Qwen 3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M4 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	S88
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	S89
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3.5 9B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3.5:9b

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run Qwen 3.5 9B?

Yes, MacBook Air M4 24GB can run Qwen 3.5 9B with a S grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 15.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen 3.5 9B need?

Qwen 3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 11.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen 3.5 9B?

The recommended quantization for Qwen 3.5 9B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen 3.5 9B run at on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Qwen 3.5 9B achieves approximately 15.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 12438ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run Qwen 3.5 9B for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen 3.5 9B on MacBook Air M4 24GB receives a S grade with 15.6 tok/s and 60K context.

What context window can Qwen 3.5 9B use on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Qwen 3.5 9B can safely use up to 60K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen 3.5 9B?

See all results for MacBook Air M4 24GB See all hardware for Qwen 3.5 9B

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