Gemma 3 27B on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified)

Yes — M4 Max (128GB Unified) handles Gemma 3 27B well at Q8_0 — 12 tok/s. Solid daily-driver performance on 128 GB VRAM.

Model Size

27.23B

Device VRAM

128 GB

Bandwidth

546 GB/s

Quantization

Q8_0

Benchmarks

Performance by Quantization

OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Gemma 3 27B on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) at Q8_0. This is the best supported pairing we can stand behind today.

Quantization	Speed	TTFT	Fits in VRAM	Rating	Confidence
Q8_0	12 tok/s	700ms	✓ Yes	Good	estimated

Notes

Q8_0

Full Q8_0 (29.5GB) fits with massive headroom. Bandwidth limits speed but quality is maximal.

About Gemma 3 27B

Gemma 3 27B (27.23B) is a chat, coding, reasoning, multi-purpose model. Google's largest open-weight model before Gemma 4. Capable reasoning and instruction following. At 27B parameters, it sits between 8B models (too limited) and 70B models (too expensive). Wide multilingual support. Fits on 24 GB GPUs at Q4.

View all Gemma 3 27B hardware options →

About Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified)

Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) has 128 GB at 546 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 16", Mac Studio.

See all models Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) can run →

Estimate method: MLX performance estimates. Reference hardware source: github.com (2026-03-15)

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.