Substantial configuration · Officially released product · Updated 2026-09-06
Integrated memory 16GB · Usable space for model approximately 13GB
MacBook Air M4 16GB Local LLM Speed/Memory/Electricity Rate
M4 practical configuration that is good for comparing stock discounts and refurbishments together. It focuses on the 8B~12B Q4 model.
Core specifications
- available memory
- 13GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 120GB/s
- local LLM sustained load
- about 26W
- Korean price range (KRW)
- 125–180 × KRW 10,000
a person who fits well
- Utilizes 13GB of available memory
- Quiet finished product composition
- Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE) class local inference
Check before purchasing
Since the operating system and KV cache use the same memory, headroom quickly decreases for long contexts or models above 20B.
4K context · Q4 model-specific expected performance
| Model | required memory | Decode | First token | Prefill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemma 4 12B MLX 4-bit | 8GB | 11.2 ~ 12.6 tok/s | 12.8 ~ 31.1 s | 132 ~ 323 tok/s |
| Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE) MLX 4-bit | 15.55GB | 9.6 ~ 15 tok/s | 6.2 ~ 18.0 s | 229 ~ 668 tok/s |
Single-user expected range and may vary depending on runtime, cooling, and quantization files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which local LLM can be run on MBA M4 16GB?
Gemma 4 12B, Gemma 4 26B-A4B (MoE) etc. can be compared with 4K input and device-specific recommended formats. The required memory varies depending on the model and context length.
How much power does a local LLM on the MBA M4 16GB have?
Expected to be around 26W under sustained load, with an actual range of 18–34W.
Are the displayed token speeds ground truth?
This is an estimated range calibrated to the calculator against official hardware specifications and verified benchmark ranges. Runtime, cooling, quantization may vary depending on file and context length.