Gemma 4 on Apple M2 · 16GB

🐢 CPU-only (slow) — Gemma 4 12B @ Q6_K
Gemma 4 12B at Q6_K needs ~13.0 GB (weights 9.5 GB + KV 3.0 GB + overhead 512 MB @ 8K ctx) of your 8.2 GB usable (of 16.0 GB unified memory) — runs on CPU only. Expect ~0.6–0.9 tok/s (slow).
context @ Q6_K: runs to 8K · won't fit past that on this rig
quantneedsspeed
✗ Q8_015.8 GB—
~ Q6_K13.0 GB~0.6–0.9 tok/s (slow)
~ Q5_K_M11.7 GB~0.6–1 tok/s (slow)
~ Q4_K_M10.6 GB~0.7–1 tok/s (slow)
runlocal verdict card
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Gemma 4: CPU-only (slow)
for your own README — links back here

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

Also runs on a Apple M2: DeepSeek-R1 (distill) · Qwen3 · Llama 3.1 · Qwen2.5 · Gemma 3

Best models for a Apple M2 · 16GB →

Architecturally similar

These share Gemma 4's KV-cache geometry — they size memory the same way, so here's how they fit on a Apple M2 · 16GB too:

modelsharesverdict here
Gemma 2 8kv/256hd ✅ Runs comfortably

Check any combo yourself: open the checker →