GoogleGemma 2 27B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (36GB Unified)
Yes — M4 Max (36GB Unified) handles Gemma 2 27B Instruct well at Q5_K_M — 15 tok/s. Solid daily-driver performance on 36 GB VRAM.
Model Size
27.23B
Device VRAM
36 GB
Bandwidth
546 GB/s
Quantization
Q5_K_M
Performance by Quantization
OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Gemma 2 27B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (36GB Unified) at Q5_K_M. This is the best supported pairing we can stand behind today.
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q5_K_M | 15 tok/s | 600ms | ✓ Yes | Good | estimated |
Notes
Q5_K_M
Q5 at 18.5GB in 36GB. Good quality with headroom for a small concurrent model.
About Gemma 2 27B Instruct
Gemma 2 27B Instruct (27.23B) is a chat, coding, reasoning, multi-purpose model. Google's 27B model with effective knowledge distillation. Reasoning and coding at a size that fits on a single 24 GB GPU at Q4. Limited to 8K context.
View all Gemma 2 27B Instruct hardware options →About Apple M4 Max (36GB Unified)
Apple M4 Max (36GB Unified) has 36 GB at 546 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 16", Mac Studio.
See all models Apple M4 Max (36GB Unified) can run →Estimate method: MLX performance estimates. Reference hardware source: github.com (2026-01-15)
Performance varies by driver version, inference engine, quantization method, context length, and system configuration. Figures shown are estimates based on community benchmarks and may not reflect your exact setup. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. OwnRig is independent and not affiliated with any hardware or AI model provider.