Can I Run / Gemma 4 26B A4B / on Apple M3 Pro (18GB)

Can I Run Gemma 4 26B A4B on a Apple M3 Pro (18GB)?

Yes

Runs at Q4_K_M — good quality with reasonable headroom.

Model size
26.0B
GPU memory
18.0GB
Smallest quant
Q4_K_M
Best fit
Q4_K_M

1 quant fit your 18.0GB

QuantMin VRAMRecommendedFile sizeHeadroom
Q4_K_MBEST16.8 GB18.3 GB15.8 GB+1.2 GB

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Full model details
Gemma 4 26B A4B

All quant variants, benchmark scores, and use-case tags.

Best models for this GPU
Apple M3 Pro (18GB)

Top-ranked open-source models that fit in 18.0GB.

FAQ

Can the Apple M3 Pro (18GB) run Gemma 4 26B A4B?

Yes. The Apple M3 Pro (18GB)'s 18.0GB of unified memory is enough to run Gemma 4 26B A4B at Q4_K_M quantization (16.8GB required).

What's the best quantization to use?

Q4_K_M is the highest-precision quantization that fits in your 18.0GB. It uses about 16.8GB of memory and 18.3GB recommended for comfortable inference.

What if I need more headroom for context length?

KV cache memory grows with context length. The numbers above assume a baseline 2K-4K context. For long-context use (32K+), add another 2-6GB depending on the model architecture.