Can Qwen 3.5 4B run on Mac mini M2 24GB?

YES — Runs Great

S88Excellent

Estimated from fit model

Qwen 3.5 4B needs ~8.1 GB VRAM. Mac mini M2 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~29 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) — 8.1 GB, 28.6 tok/s, Runs well

8.1 GB required17.3 GB available

47% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

28.6 tok/s

TTFT

6760 ms

Safe context

83K

Memory

8.1 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights2.4 GB

KV Cache2.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3.5 4B on Mac mini M2 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: 28.6 tok/s decode · 6.8s TTFT (warm) · 72 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	28.6 tok/s	3687 ms	83K
Coding	S	Runs well	28.6 tok/s	6760 ms	83K
Agentic Coding	S	Runs well	28.6 tok/s	9833 ms	83K
Reasoning	S	Runs well	28.6 tok/s	7990 ms	83K
RAG	S	Runs well	28.6 tok/s	12292 ms	83K

Inference speed

Qwen 3.5 4B inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for Qwen 3.5 4B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is RTX 5090 32GB at ~76 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.

GPU / Mac	Memory	Quant	Speed (tok/s)	Fits?
RTX 5090 32GB	32 GB	Q4_K_M	76.0	Fits
RTX 4080 Super 16GB	16 GB	Q4_K_M	64.0	Fits
RTX 4060 8GB	8 GB	Q4_K_M	64.0	Fits
RTX 4090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
RTX 3090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
RTX 4070 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
RTX 3060 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
RX 7900 XTX 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	256 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB	48 GB	Q4_K_M	56.0	Fits

Estimates for single-stream decoding at Q4_K_M; real tokens/sec varies with prompt length, context, batch size, and runtime build. Prompt processing (prefill) is faster than the decode figures shown here.

Quantization options

How Qwen 3.5 4B (4B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac mini M2 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	1.6 GB	Low	S86
Q3_K_S	3	2.0 GB	Low	S86
NVFP4	4	2.2 GB	Medium	S86
Q4_K_M	4	2.4 GB	Medium	S86
Q5_K_M	5	2.9 GB	High	S86
Q6_K	6	3.3 GB	High	S87
Q8_0	8	4.3 GB	Very High	S88
F16Best for your GPU	16	8.2 GB	Maximum	S91

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3.5 4B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3.5:4b

Your hardware

More models your Mac mini M2 24GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode
Qwen 3.5 9B	9B	S	12.7 tok/s
Magistral Small 2507	24B	B	3.7 tok/s
Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct	24B	B	3.7 tok/s
Qwen 3 14B	14B	S	8.2 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can Mac mini M2 24GB run Qwen 3.5 4B?

Yes, Mac mini M2 24GB can run Qwen 3.5 4B with a S grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 28.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen 3.5 4B need?

Qwen 3.5 4B (4B parameters) requires approximately 8.1 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen 3.5 4B?

The recommended quantization for Qwen 3.5 4B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen 3.5 4B run at on Mac mini M2 24GB?

On Mac mini M2 24GB, Qwen 3.5 4B achieves approximately 28.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 6760ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Mac mini M2 24GB run Qwen 3.5 4B for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen 3.5 4B on Mac mini M2 24GB receives a S grade with 28.6 tok/s and 83K context.

What context window can Qwen 3.5 4B use on Mac mini M2 24GB?

On Mac mini M2 24GB, Qwen 3.5 4B can safely use up to 83K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on Mac mini M2 24GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen 3.5 4B?

Not always. Mac mini M2 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.

See all results for Mac mini M2 24GB See all hardware for Qwen 3.5 4B

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