Can I Run / Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) / on Apple M4 (32GB)

Can I Run Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) on a Apple M4 (32GB)?

Yes

Runs at Q8_0 — near-lossless quality.

Model size
26.5B
GPU memory
32.0GB
Smallest quant
Q3_K_M
Best fit
Q8_0

7 quantizations fit your 32.0GB

QuantMin VRAMRecommendedFile sizeHeadroom
Q8_0BEST29.2 GB30.7 GB0.5 GB+2.8 GB
Q6_K22.8 GB24.3 GB23.2 GB+9.2 GB
Q5_K_M19.8 GB21.3 GB21.1 GB+12.2 GB
Q5_K_S19.3 GB20.8 GB18.9 GB+12.7 GB
Q4_K_M17.1 GB18.6 GB16.9 GB+14.9 GB
Q4_K_S16.2 GB17.7 GB16.5 GB+15.8 GB
Q3_K_M12.1 GB13.6 GB12.7 GB+19.9 GB

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Full model details
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free)

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

Best models for this GPU
Apple M4 (32GB)

Top-ranked open-source models that fit in 32.0GB.

FAQ

Can the Apple M4 (32GB) run Gemma 4 26B A4B (free)?

Yes. The Apple M4 (32GB)'s 32.0GB of unified memory is enough to run Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) at Q8_0 quantization (29.2GB required).

What's the best quantization to use?

Q8_0 is the highest-precision quantization that fits in your 32.0GB. It uses about 29.2GB of memory and 30.7GB 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.