Run Gemma 3 4B on M5 Max

Yes — Gemma 3 4B (4B) runs at 132 tok/s on M5 Max with 64 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via Ollama. First token latency is 0.3s. Google's previous-gen 4B dense model, solid balance of speed and quality.

Speed
132
tok/s
First Token
0.3
seconds
RAM Needed
64
GB minimum
Engine
Ollama
recommended

Benchmark Details

LLMCheck measured Gemma 3 4B on M5 Max using the standard methodology: Q4_K_M quantization, 256-token input, 512-token output, 3 runs averaged on a freshly-booted system.

MetricValue
Tokens per second132 tok/s
Time to first token0.3s
QuantizationQ4_K_M
Minimum RAM64 GB
Recommended engineOllama
Parameters4B
Benchmark date2026-03

Q4_K_M 4B Ollama M5 Max

Setup Guide: Run Gemma 3 4B on M5 Max

The recommended engine for Gemma 3 4B on M5 Max is Ollama. Install Ollama, then pull the model:

ollama run gemma3:4b

Ollama handles quantization automatically — it will download the Q4_K_M variant (~64 GB) and start an interactive chat session.

Performance on Other Apple Silicon Chips

ChipSpeedFirst TokenMin RAMEngine
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 M5 Max you need:

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