Apple · M4 · Laptop

Best AI Models for MacBook Air 13" 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/s7 TFLOPS FP162025

Buy$999

Memory

16 GB$999 24 GB$1,399 32 GB

Same chip in

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

What LLMs can the MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" M4 →Bars = traction for models without a Score yet

About the MacBook Air 13" M4 (16 GB)

The MacBook Air 13" M4 is a mid-range 16 GB laptop: 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 57 s before the first word on Qwen3.5 9B. At its $999 MSRP it gives 13.2 tok/s per $1,000, 5th of the 7 machines compared here. M4 generation, released 2025; the newer M5 writes 28% faster with 1.9× the compute.

Speed in 16 GB#4120 GB/s

Prompt reading#57 TFLOPS

For models12.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB

ChipM4released 2025

MacBook Air 13" M4 strengths and weaknesses

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 7.6 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 $0.23/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 MacBook Air 13" 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	–
MacBook Air 13" M416 GB	about $999	13.2	13.2	–
MacBook Air 13" M424 GB	about $1,399	13.2	9.4	–
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 MacBook Air 13" 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.

NewUsed

Speed$ per 1M tokens

≤16 GB24–36 GB48–64 GBthis laptopat MSRP

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

$4.80

Machine, MSRP: $4.80
Power: not published

3-year cost of ownership$999

Or rent an RTX 3090 in the cloud$0.17/hr

Renting costs as much as buying after ≈5,900 hours (≈4.0 years at 4 h a day).

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 memory for $400 moreMacBook Air 13" M4 (24 GB)Apple · 20.5 GB for models · M4

same speed▲ $400 more▲ 8 GB$1,399

Same family Same chip, 2× the memoryMacBook Air 13" M4 (32 GB)Apple · 28.5 GB for models · M4

same speed▲ 16 GBno price

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

Reads prompts 4× faster, 32.5 GB for modelsMac Studio M4 Max (36 GB)Apple · 32.5 GB for models · M4 Max

▲ 4× prompts▲ 242% speed▲ 20 GB$2,499

Reads prompts 5× faster, 60.5 GB for modelsMacBook Pro 14 M5 ProApple · 60.5 GB for models · M5 Pro

▲ 5× prompts▲ 156% speed▲ 48 GB$2,299

MacBook Air 13" 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 16.9 tok/s since the M1. Compute, which sets how fast prompts are read, grew 2.5×. Indexed to the M1; speeds on Qwen3.5 9B, same 16 GB.

All 971 models on the MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" M4 (16 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
EXAONE 3.5 2.4B Instruct2.4BChat Q4_K_M·52.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.4 GB27%	52.8 t/s	33K	A81, Runs well
Stories15M MOE36MChat Q4_K_M·229.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB3%	229.3 t/s	0K	S100, Runs great
Qehwa Pashto Llm7.6BChat Q4_K_M·16.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	5.8 GB46%	16.8 t/s	131K	B56, Decent
Nanonets OCR2 3B3.8BVision Q4_K_M·31.9 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.2 GB25%	31.9 t/s	128K	A71, Runs well
Jan Code 4B4.4BChatFunctionsCode Q4_K_M·26.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.5 GB36%	26.8 t/s	262K	A68, Runs well
Schematron 3B3.2BChat Q4_K_M·34.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.1 GB33%	34.1 t/s	131K	A73, Runs well
Qwen3 VL 2B Instruct2.1BVisionFunctions Q4_K_M·46.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.5 GB28%	46.4 t/s	262K	A78, Runs well
Gemma 4 E2B5.1BChat Q4_K_M·24.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.5 GB28%	24.5 t/s	131K	A65, Runs well
Granite Docling 258M258MVisionChatCodeMath Q4_K_M·168.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB5%	168.0 t/s	8K	S98, Runs great
Txgemma 2B Predict2.6BChat Q4_K_M·48.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.6 GB29%	48.6 t/s	—	A79, Runs well
Qwen3.5 2B Text Only1.9BChat BF16·20.2 t/s	BF16	4.3 GB34%	20.2 t/s	262K	B60, Decent
VulnLLM R 7B7.6BChatReasoning Q4_K_M·16.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	5.8 GB46%	16.8 t/s	33K	B56, Decent
Ornith 1.0 9B9.4BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·13.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	6.5 GB52%	13.5 t/s	262K	B53, Decent
MobileLLM R1.5 950M950MChatReasoning BF16·40.2 t/s	BF16	3.5 GB28%	40.2 t/s	—	A75, Runs well
Gemma 4 12B12.0BChat Q4_K_M·10.2 t/s	Q4_K_M	9.0 GB72%	10.2 t/s	262K	B48, Decent

MacBook Air 13" M4 specs

Specs

Chip: M4
CPU cores: 10
GPU cores: 8
Unified memory: 16 GB
For models: 12.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth: 120 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 6.9 TFLOPS
Neural Engine: 38 TOPS
Released: 2025-03-12
MSRP: $999

MacBook Air 13" M4 FAQ

Is the MacBook Air 13" M4 (16 GB) worth it for local LLMs in 2026?

At its $999 MSRP it gives 13.2 tok/s per $1,000 on Qwen3.5 9B, 5th 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 MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" 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 MacBook Air 13" M4 (16 GB) take to read a long prompt?

On Qwen3.5 9B, about 57 s for a 4K-token prompt and 7.6 min for a 32K-token document before the first word appears.

Is renting a GPU cheaper than buying the MacBook Air 13" M4?

An RTX 3090 (24 GB) rents from $0.17/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈5,900 hours (≈4.0 years at 4 h a day).

12 GB GPUs All Macs Laptops 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 Best coding LLMs All hardware