Can Apple Mac mini M4 16GB run Llama, Qwen & DeepSeek? 314 models that fit
314 of the 493 models in the Spanvero catalog fit Apple Mac mini M4 16GB's 16 GB unified memory (at a sensible quant, 16k context). For each: run it locally ($0 compute + electricity), rent an equivalent GPU ($0 markup, as of 2026-07-09), or pay per-token via your own API key (as of 2026-08-17).
Three honest ways to run each model on Apple Mac mini M4 16GB
Run it locally: $0 in compute — you pay only electricity (~65 W under load on this Mac). Local is real money, never a fake "$0".
Rent an equivalent GPU: from a $0-markup vendor rate (as of 2026-07-09) — you rent on your own account and pay the vendor directly; we never resell compute.
Skip the box: run the same model through your own API key, paying per million tokens (prices as of 2026-08-17).
What fits Apple Mac mini M4 16GB (16 GB unified memory)
314 of the 493 notable models in the Spanvero catalog fit Apple Mac mini M4 16GB at a sensible quant (context capped at 16k for the estimate). Most capable first:
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B NVFP4 (nvidia, 18.2B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2734/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.25/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B NVFP4 (nvidia, 17.8B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2686/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.24/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen3 30B A3B NVFP4 (RedHatAI, 17.5B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.265/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.24/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
deepseek moe 16b base (deepseek-ai, 16.4B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2516/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
deepseek moe 16b chat (deepseek-ai, 16.4B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2516/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
LLaDA2.0 mini (inclusionAI, 16.3B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2503/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
LLaDA2.1 mini (inclusionAI, 16.3B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2503/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Ling mini 2.0 (inclusionAI, 16.3B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2503/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Moonlight 16B A3B Instruct (moonshotai, 16B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2466/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Moonlight 16B A3B (moonshotai, 16B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2466/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
DeepSeek-Coder-V2-Lite Instruct (DeepSeek, 15.7B) — needs ~11 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2429/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen3 30B A3B NVFP4 (nvidia, 15.6B) — needs ~12 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2417/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen2.5 Coder 14B Instruct (Qwen, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct (Qwen, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen3 14B (Qwen, 14.8B) — needs ~13 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.18/1M via your own API key.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B (deepseek-ai, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct (unsloth, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
phi 4 quantized.w4a16 (RedHatAI, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen2.5 14B (Qwen, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen2.5 Coder 14B (Qwen, 14.8B) — needs ~14 GB at Q4_K_M: run it locally for $0 compute + ~$0.2317/1M in electricity, rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr ($0 markup), or ~$0.22/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Street price $799.00 (as of 2026-07-09; Apple US store, verified 2026-07-09 — $799 M4 mini 16GB/256GB, still the cheapest new Apple Silicon box ($599 died 2026-05-01 with the 256GB tier; a 256GB config returned at the 2026-06-25 DRAM-shortage repricing — MacRumors + apple.com buy-page config); 65W = Apple's max-continuous spec for the M4 mini, an upper bound) — amortized over 3 years that's ~$0.7297/day whether or not you're generating.
Electricity: ~65 W under sustained inference at $0.1883/kWh (EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A — U.S. residential average, Apr 2026, as of 2026-07-02) — the per-1M-token figures above already include this at each model's speed.
Straight talk: for the small models a 16 GB unified memory box runs, hosted APIs are often cheaper per token. Own local for privacy, offline use, and unlimited runs — not to save money on tokens.
Too big for Apple Mac mini M4 16GB — rent or use an API instead
These need more than the 16 GB unified memory on this Mac. Closest first — you can still run them on a rented GPU ($0 markup) or via your own API key:
gpt-oss-20b (OpenAI, 21B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.08/1M via your own API key.
gpt oss 20b BF16 (unsloth, 20.9B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.27/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
Qwen3 32B NVFP4 (nvidia, 17.2B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.24/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
DeepSeek V2 Lite Chat (deepseek-ai, 15.7B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
DeepSeek V2 Lite (deepseek-ai, 15.7B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.23/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 (nvidia, 12.3B) — needs ~15 GB; rent 2× NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB from $0.12/hr, or ~$0.20/1M via your own API key (size estimate).
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