Apple · M4 · Mini PC

Best AI Models for Mac Mini M4 (16 GB)

Runs 9B models at 13 tok/s; 14B only just fits in 12.5 GB, and 27–31B doesn't fit.

16 GB unified12.5 GB for models120 GB/s9 TFLOPS FP1665 W2024

Buy$799

Memory

16 GB$799 24 GB32 GB$999

Same chip in

Mac Mini$799 MacBook Air 13"$999 MacBook Air 15"MacBook Pro 14"$1,599 iMac 24"iPad Pro 13"

What LLMs can the Mac Mini M4 run?

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 13.2 t/s	13.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 25.8 t/s	25.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 29.6 t/s	29.6 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
4	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
5	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 62.8 t/s	62.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Coding Score	Quant · Memory
1	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMetaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 25.8 t/s	25.8 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Qwen3 8BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 15.2 t/s	15.2 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB
4	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 62.8 t/s	62.8 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB
5	Gemma 4 E4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3 8BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 15.2 t/s	15.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB
2	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
3	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 29.6 t/s	29.6 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
4	Qwen2.5 7B InstructAlibaba Q4_K_M · 5.8 GB · 16.8 t/s	16.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.8 GB
5	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 62.8 t/s	62.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 25.8 t/s	25.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
3	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 62.8 t/s	62.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB
4	Gemma 4 E4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB
5	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 24.5 t/s	24.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB

#	Model	Speed ↓	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 25.8 t/s	25.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 62.8 t/s	62.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB
3	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 24.5 t/s	24.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB
4	Gemma 4 E4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB · 15.8 t/s	15.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.6 GB
5	Qwen3 8BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 15.2 t/s	15.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 25.8 t/s	25.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 29.6 t/s	29.6 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
3	Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 13.2 t/s	13.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
4	MiniCPM V 4.7 1BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB · 65.6 t/s	65.6 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB
5	LFM3 Omni 2BLiquid AI Q4_K_M · 2.4 GB · 49.4 t/s	49.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 2.4 GB

See all 281 models on the Mac Mini M4 →Bars = traction for models without a Score yet

About the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB)

The Mac Mini M4 is a mid-range 16 GB mini PC: it runs 9B models at 13 tok/s. Among 16 GB machines, only the M1 Pro, M2 Pro and M5 write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 12.5 GB for models. Prompt reading is its weak spot: a 4K-token prompt waits 46 s before the first word on Qwen3.5 9B. At its $799 MSRP it gives 16.5 tok/s per $1,000, 3rd of the 7 machines compared here. M4 generation, released 2024; the newer M5 writes 27% faster with 1.9× the compute.

Speed in 16 GB#4120 GB/s

Prompt reading#59 TFLOPS

For models12.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB

ChipM4released 2024

Mac Mini M4 strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Low power draw: 65 W at full load for the whole machine

Weaknesses

27–31B models don't fit: Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4 vs 12.5 GB usable here
Little room for context: Qwen3 14B uses 11.9 of 12.5 GB usable, 0.6 GB left
Slow prompt reading: A 32K-token prompt on Qwen3.5 9B waits 6.1 min for the first token
No CUDA: vLLM, AWQ, GPTQ and FP8 builds don't run; use GGUF or MLX

Memory for models

12.5 GB of 16 GB

9B6.6 GB14B11.9 GB

For models 12.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GBModel size at Q4

27–31B models need 17.9 GB at Q4, more than the 12.5 GB available. The 24 GB config fits Qwen3.8 27B →Or rent an RTX 3090 Ti (24 GB) from $0.24/hr →

Speed per dollar and per watt

NewUsed

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) at Q4_K_M. New means a shop price, either a street quote or the maker's own price; used is compared with used. The last two columns are the speed you get per $1,000 of price and per 100 W of power; higher is better. The Mac Mini M4 has no current new price, so it is shown at its MSRP.

Machine	New price	tok/s	tok/s per $1,000	tok/s per 100 W
Mac Mini M4 Pro24 GB	about $1,599	30.0	18.8	21.4
Mac Studio M4 Max36 GB	about $2,499	45.1	18.0	31.1
Mac Mini M416 GB	about $799	13.2	16.5	20.3
MacBook Pro 14 M5 Pro64 GB	about $2,299	33.8	14.7	–
Mac Mini M432 GB	about $999	13.2	13.2	20.3
MacBook Air 13" M416 GB	about $999	13.2	13.2	–
MacBook Pro 14 M532 GB	about $1,839	16.9	9.2	–

Machine	Used price	tok/s	tok/s per $1,000	tok/s per 100 W
Mac Studio M4 Max36 GB	about $2,000	45.1	22.6	31.1
MacBook Pro 14 M5 Pro64 GB	about $2,109	33.8	16.0	–

Cost per token: the Mac Mini M4 against 16–64 GB machines and GPUs

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params, Q4_K_M, 4K context). Speed, cost per token and power per token depend on the model.

≤16 GB24–36 GB48–64 GBthis mini PCat MSRP

Cost per 1M output tokenson Qwen3.5 9B · card over 3 years + power

$4.04

Machine, MSRP: $3.84
Power: $0.21

3-year cost of ownership$842

Or rent an RTX 3090 in the cloud$0.11/hr

Renting costs as much as buying after ≈7,500 hours (≈5.1 years at 4 h a day).

Include card price

Power$/kWhUseh/dayKeepyears

Each dot is a machine or GPU; hover or tap it for its numbers, click to open it. Machines without a price for the chosen basis are left out. Machines without a published power figure are left out of Per watt and costed without power. How we calculate cost per token

Similar devices and alternatives

Other memory sizes of the same machine first, then machines and GPUs people weigh against it, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.5 9B.

Same chip, 8 GB more memoryMac Mini M4 (24 GB)Apple · 20.5 GB for models · M4

same speed▲ 8 GBno price

Same family Same chip, 2× the memory for $200 moreMac Mini M4 (32 GB)Apple · 28.5 GB for models · M4

same speed▲ $200 more▲ 16 GB$999

Same family 127% faster, 8 GB more memoryMac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB)Apple · 20.5 GB for models · M4 Pro

▲ 127% speed▲ 8 GB$1,599

28% faster, 16 GB more memoryMacBook Pro 14 M5Apple · 28.5 GB for models · M5

▲ 28% speed▲ 16 GB$1,839

242% faster, 20 GB more memoryMac Studio M4 Max (36 GB)Apple · 32.5 GB for models · M4 Max

▲ 242% speed▲ 20 GB$2,499

Reads prompts 4× faster, 60.5 GB for modelsMacBook Pro 14 M5 ProApple · 60.5 GB for models · M5 Pro

▲ 4× prompts▲ 156% speed▲ 48 GB$2,299

Mac Mini M4 tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (120 GB/s). Grey rows need more than the 12.5 GB available.

9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
13.2tok/s
14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB tight · Q4_K_M
8.8tok/s
27–31BQwen3.8 27B · not at 4-bit
needs 17.9 GB
35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · not at 4-bit
needs 22.0 GB
70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bit
needs 51.3 GB
120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bit
needs 70.8 GB

Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate

Chip generations: writing vs compute

M1 → M5

Writing speed (tok/s)Compute (TFLOPS FP16)

Writing speed follows memory bandwidth and barely moved: 7.5 to 16.8 tok/s since the M1. Compute, which sets how fast prompts are read, grew 3.1×. Indexed to the M1; speeds on Qwen3.5 9B, same 16 GB.

All 971 models on the Mac Mini M4

Featured only

Best quant that fits in 12.5 GB, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
LFM2.5 230M Base230MChat Q4_K_M·168.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB5%	168.0 t/s	128K	S98, Runs great
Pythia 410M506MChat Q4_K_M·254.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB3%	254.5 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Wald 26B A4B25.8BChatReasoningFunctions Q3_K_S·33.1 t/s	Q3_K_S	12.3 GB98%	33.1 t/s	262K	C44, Usable
OlmOCR 2 7B 10258.3BVision Q4_K_M·15.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	6.2 GB50%	15.6 t/s	128K	B55, Decent
Gemma 2 2B IT Abliterated2.6BChat Q4_K_M·39.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	2.6 GB21%	39.8 t/s	8K	A75, Runs well
Qwen3 VL 2B Thinking2.1BVisionFunctions Q4_K_M·46.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.5 GB28%	46.4 t/s	262K	A78, Runs well
TinyLLama V05MChat Q4_K_M·8400.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.0 GB0%	8400.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Llama Krikri 8B Instruct8.2BChat Q4_K_M·15.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	7.4 GB59%	15.3 t/s	131K	B55, Decent
Salamandra 2B Instruct2.3BChat Q4_K_M·41.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.3 GB26%	41.0 t/s	8K	A75, Runs well
Yi 1.5 9B Chat8.8BChat Q4_K_M·14.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	6 GB48%	14.5 t/s	4K	B54, Decent
Llama 68M68MChat Q4_K_M·2100.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.0 GB0%	2100.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Dummy GPT2 Correct Vocab2MChat Q4_K_M·8400.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.0 GB0%	8400.0 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great
Shieldgemma 9B9.2BChat Q4_K_M·13.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	8.8 GB70%	13.8 t/s	—	B53, Decent
KONI Llama3.1 8B Instruct 202410248.0BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·15.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	7.3 GB58%	15.6 t/s	131K	B55, Decent
T5 Paraphrase Paws223MChat Q4_K_M·560.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.1 GB1%	560.0 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great

Mac Mini M4 specs and power

Specs

Chip: M4
CPU cores: 10
GPU cores: 10
Unified memory: 16 GB
For models: 12.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth: 120 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 8.6 TFLOPS
Neural Engine: 38 TOPS
Power: 65 W max
Released: 2024-11-08
MSRP: $799

Mac Mini M4 FAQ

Is the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) worth it for local LLMs in 2026?

At its $799 MSRP it gives 16.5 tok/s per $1,000 on Qwen3.5 9B, 3rd of the 7 machines compared here. It runs 9B models at 13 tok/s; 14B only just fits in 12.5 GB, and 27–31B doesn't fit.

How much memory is available for AI on the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB)?

About 12.5 GB of the 16 GB. macOS keeps roughly 3.5 GB for itself and other apps.

What is the largest model the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) can run?

GPT OSS 20B (20.9B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at Q4_K_S it uses 12.4 GB, 99% of the available memory, and runs at about 29.6 tok/s.

Can the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) run Qwen3.5 9B?

Yes. Qwen3.5 9B fits at Q4_K_M, using 6.6 GB of the 12.5 GB available, and it is the best model that runs well on this machine.

Can the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) run 27–31B models?

No. Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4, more than the 12.5 GB available.

How long does the Mac Mini M4 (16 GB) take to read a long prompt?

On Qwen3.5 9B, about 46 s for a 4K-token prompt and 6.1 min for a 32K-token document before the first word appears.

Is renting a GPU cheaper than buying the Mac Mini M4?

An RTX 3090 (24 GB) rents from $0.11/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈7,500 hours (≈5.1 years at 4 h a day).

12 GB GPUs All Macs Desktops & mini PCs Mac Mini M2 Pro MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14" M2 Pro MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16" M2 Pro MacBook Air 13" M5 MacBook Pro 14" M3 Pro Best coding LLMs All hardware