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Gemma 3 4B on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)

Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) can run Gemma 3 4B at 22 tok/s at Q4_K_M, though performance is acceptable. Consider a higher-end GPU for better results.

Model Size

4.3B

Device VRAM

18 GB

Bandwidth

150 GB/s

Quantizations Tested

1

Performance by Quantization

Each row shows Gemma 3 4B performance at a different quality level on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified).

QuantizationSpeedTTFTFits in VRAMRatingConfidence
Q4_K_M22 tok/s320ms✓ YesAcceptableestimated

Notes

Q4_K_M

Compact model. Good for resource-constrained coding.

About Gemma 3 4B

Gemma 3 4B (4.3B) is a chat, coding model. Compact Gemma 3 model for chat and light coding on low-VRAM hardware.

View all Gemma 3 4B hardware options →

About Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)

Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) has 18 GB at 150 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 14", MacBook Pro 16".

See all models Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) can run →

Source: MLX performance estimates (2026-03-15)

Data last updated: 2026-03-15