Rent a GPU

Can the Apple M4 (16GB) run Qwen3 235B-A22B?

Apple M4 (16GB) × Qwen3 235B-A22B8K context
NoDoes not fit in memory
Memory at Q4_K_M144.7 GB of 10.7 GB
Weights 142.5 GBKV cache 1.6 GBRuntime 0.6 GB
  1. FP16
  2. Q8_0
  3. Q6_K
  4. Q5_K_M
  5. Q4_K_M
  6. Q3_K_M
  7. Q2_K

No. Even at Q4_K_M, Qwen3 235B-A22B needs about 144.7 GB, but the Apple M4 (16GB) has 10.7 GB usable. You could offload some layers to system RAM, but it will be very slow.

Try other context lengths

Run it on a rented GPU

On a cloud GPU with enough memory, the same command you'd use locally works:

ollama run qwen3:235b

At Q4_K_M it needs about 144.7 GB, so pick a GPU with at least 152 GB.

New to this? Step-by-step setup for the Apple M4 (16GB)

Run it in the cloud

Too big for the Apple M4 (16GB)? Run Qwen3 235B-A22B on a rented GPU instead.

Rent a cloud GPU by the hour. No upfront cost, stop any time. Not sure whether to rent or buy? Compare the cost.

Rent a GPU on RunPodRent a GPU on Vast.ai

Memory needed by quantization

At 8,192 tokens of context. The black line marks the 10.7 GB the Apple M4 (16GB) can use. macOS lets the GPU use about 10.7 GB of the 16 GB unified memory by default.

QuantQualityMemoryFits?Speed
FP16Full quality472.4 GBToo big—
Q8_0Near-lossless252 GBToo big—
Q6_KExcellent195 GBToo big—
Q5_K_MVery good169.4 GBToo big—
Q4_K_MGood, most popular144.7 GBToo big—
Q3_K_MNoticeably degraded117.1 GBToo big—
Q2_KHeavily degraded90.3 GBToo big—

Measured speed from real Apple M4 (16GB) owners

Tokens per second that people measured on their own Apple M4 (16GB), next to our estimate.

No one has measured Qwen3 235B-A22B on the Apple M4 (16GB) yet. The speeds above are estimates. Run the benchmark and yours becomes the first real number on this page.

Have an Apple M4 (16GB)? Add your real speed

One command times Qwen3 235B-A22B in your own Ollama, shows you exactly what it would send, and asks before sending anything. No sign-up, no personal data.

macOS and Linux

curl -fsSL https://gpufit.dev/bench.sh | sh -s -- qwen3:235b

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:GPUFIT_MODEL="qwen3:235b"; irm https://gpufit.dev/bench.ps1 | iex

How the benchmark works

GPUs that run Qwen3 235B-A22B comfortably

Check Mac Studio M3 Ultra (256 GB) prices

Models that run well on the Apple M4 (16GB)

Frequently asked questions

Can Apple M4 (16GB) run Qwen3 235B-A22B?

No. Even at Q4_K_M, Qwen3 235B-A22B needs about 144.7 GB, but the Apple M4 (16GB) has 10.7 GB usable. You could offload some layers to system RAM, but it will be very slow.

How much VRAM does Qwen3 235B-A22B need?

About 144.7 GB at Q4_K_M with 8,192 tokens of context, and about 472.4 GB at full FP16 precision.

How fast is Qwen3 235B-A22B on the Apple M4 (16GB)?

It does not fit in the Apple M4 (16GB)'s memory, so most layers would run from system RAM and generation would be very slow.