Gemma 2 on Apple M3 Max · 36GB

✅ Runs (tight) — Gemma 2 27B @ Q4_K_M
Gemma 2 27B at Q4_K_M needs ~19.0 GB (weights 15.4 GB + KV 2.9 GB + overhead 787 MB @ 8K ctx) of your 21.1 GB usable (of 36.0 GB unified memory) — fits, but little headroom — close other apps or trim context. Expect ~9–15 tok/s (usable).
context @ Q4_K_M: comfortable to 2K · runs to its full 8K
quantneedsspeed
~ Q8_031.2 GB~0.7–1 tok/s (slow)
~ Q5_K_M21.8 GB~1–2 tok/s (slow)
✓ Q4_K_M19.0 GB~9–15 tok/s (usable)
✓ Q3_K_M15.9 GB~12–19 tok/s (usable)
$runlocal install gemma2:27b
runlocal verdict card
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Gemma 2: Runs (tight)
for your own README — links back here

Same model, other machines: Apple M1 · Apple M1 Pro · Apple M2 · Apple M3 Pro · Apple M2 Pro · Apple M4 Pro

Also runs on a Apple M3 Max: Qwen3 · DeepSeek-R1 (distill) · Qwen2.5 · Gemma 4 · Gemma 3

Best models for a Apple M3 Max · 36GB →

Architecturally similar

These share Gemma 2's KV-cache geometry — they size memory the same way, so here's how they fit on a Apple M3 Max · 36GB too:

modelsharesverdict here
Falcon3 7B 4kv/256hd ✅ Runs comfortably

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