Run Gemma 3 4B on M4 Pro

Yes — Gemma 3 4B (4B) runs at 95 tok/s on M4 Pro with 24 GB RAM using Q8_0 quantization via MLX. First token latency is 0.3s. Google's previous-gen 4B dense model, solid balance of speed and quality.

Speed
95
tok/s
First Token
0.3
seconds
RAM Needed
24
GB minimum
Engine
MLX
recommended
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Benchmark Details

The LLMCheck index estimates Gemma 3 4B on M4 Pro using our published methodology: Q4_K_M quantization, memory-bandwidth scaling, and cross-referenced third-party benchmarks where available. Figures are transparent estimates — own this config? Submit a real benchmark →

MetricValue
Tokens per second95 tok/s
Time to first token0.3s
QuantizationQ8_0
Minimum RAM24 GB
Recommended engineMLX
Parameters4B
Benchmark date2026-02

Q8_0 4B MLX M4 Pro

Setup Guide: Run Gemma 3 4B on M4 Pro

The recommended engine for Gemma 3 4B on M4 Pro is MLX. Install with pip and pull the model:

pip install mlx-lm
mlx_lm.generate --model mlx-community/gemma-3-4b-q8_0 --prompt "Hello!"

Alternatively, you can use Ollama for a simpler setup:

ollama run gemma3:4b

Performance on Other Apple Silicon Chips

ChipSpeedFirst TokenMin RAMEngine
M5 Max 132 tok/s 0.3s 64 GB Ollama
M3 Pro 88 tok/s 0.4s 18 GB MLX
M1 48 tok/s 0.8s 8 GB Ollama

System Requirements

To run Gemma 3 4B on M4 Pro you need:

🛒 Get a Mac that runs Gemma 3 4B

Gemma 3 4B needs about 24 GB of unified memory. These current Apple Silicon Macs have the headroom to run it comfortably:

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Compare More Models

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