MacBook Air M4 16GB Integrated memory 16GB · Usable space for model approximately 13GB
M4 practical configuration that is good for comparing stock discounts and refurbishments together. It focuses on the 8B~12B Q4 model.
Speed and memory for the same model
Hardware core specifications
- Available memory
- 13GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 120GB/s
- Estimated sustained LLM load
- About 26W
- Korean price range (KRW)
- 236 × KRW 10,000–255 × KRW 10,000
Who it fits
- Utilizes 13GB of available memory
- Quiet finished product composition
- Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE) class local inference
Skip it if
Since the operating system and KV cache use the same memory, headroom quickly decreases for long contexts or models above 20B.
Recommended format for each device 4K input
The model you will experience with this equipment
K2 Horizon 0.9B
Required 1.03GB · spare time
MLX 4-bit
Decode
149.4 ~ 167.5 tok/s
First token
1.5 to 3.8 seconds
Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE)
recommendedRequired 15.55GB · tight
MLX 4-bit
Decode
9.6 ~ 15 tok/s
First token
6.2 ~ 18.0 s
Actual speed varies with runtime version, cooling, context length and quantization file.
On sales pages, look at memory before chips.
The model and speed assumptions above change if the product is not the 16GB configuration.
Frequently asked questions
- Which local LLM can be run on MBA M4 16GB?
- K2 Horizon 0.9B, Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE) and others with a 4K input and the recommended format. Required memory varies by model and context length.
- How much power does a local LLM on the MBA M4 16GB have?
- Sustained load is about 26 W, with an actual range of 18–34 W.
- Are the displayed token speeds ground truth?
- This is a range aligned to collected benchmark measurements under the same conditions. Combinations without a matching measurement are estimated from the nearest result and vary with runtime, cooling, quantization file and context length.
Equipment to compare together
similar memory
Mac mini M4 16GB
This is the right configuration to minimize costs and start with 8B to 12B models.
similar memory
Mac mini M4 24GB
If you summarize short documents and ask about small sections of code, first check whether the model you plan to use gives useful answers. If a 12B Q4 model does the job, 32GB is worth considering only when your work needs more memory headroom.
similar memory
RTX 3090 24GB
If you own an RTX 3090, first check whether the target model and context fit in 24GB. Newer hardware alone is not a reason to replace a card that completes your work. For a used purchase, include power, cooling, case compatibility and return terms in the cost.