Run Qwen 3.5 9B on M3

Yes — Qwen 3.5 9B (9B) runs at 58 tok/s on M3 with 16 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via Ollama. First token latency is 0.7s. Alibaba's 9B model — top pick for 8 GB and 16 GB Macs.

Speed

tok/s

First Token

0.7

seconds

RAM Needed

GB minimum

Engine

Ollama

Benchmark Details

The LLMCheck index estimates Qwen 3.5 9B on M3 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 →

Metric	Value
Tokens per second	58 tok/s
Time to first token	0.7s
Quantization	Q4_K_M
Minimum RAM	16 GB
Recommended engine	Ollama
Parameters	9B
Benchmark date	2026-01

Q4_K_M 9B Ollama M3

Setup Guide: Run Qwen 3.5 9B on M3

The recommended engine for Qwen 3.5 9B on M3 is Ollama. Install Ollama, then pull the model:

ollama run qwen3.5:9b

Ollama handles quantization automatically — it will download the Q4_K_M variant (~16 GB) and start an interactive chat session.

Performance on Other Apple Silicon Chips

Chip	Speed	First Token	Min RAM	Engine
M5 Max	105 tok/s	0.5s	64 GB	Ollama
M4 Pro	92 tok/s	0.4s	24 GB	MLX
M4	72 tok/s	0.6s	16 GB	LM Studio
M1	35 tok/s	1.1s	16 GB	Ollama

System Requirements

To run Qwen 3.5 9B on M3 you need:

• Mac with M3 chip (or newer)
• 16 GB unified memory minimum
• macOS 13 Ventura or later
• ~13-16 GB free disk space for the model file
• Ollama installed (see our Ollama install guide)

🛒 Get a Mac that runs Qwen 3.5 9B

Qwen 3.5 9B needs about 16 GB of unified memory. These current Apple Silicon Macs have the headroom to run it comfortably:

MacBook Air M4 (24GB) → Mac mini M4 →

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