Mac Mini M4 16GB
16GB Unified memory
/
120 GB/s
/
15W
/
$599 MSRP
/
Released 2024
Overview
The 2024 Mac mini generation: M4 base at $599 (16GB, 120 GB/s) and M4 Pro at $1,399 (24GB, 273 GB/s), with a 48GB M4 Pro option. Still sold, now alongside the 2026 M6/M5 Pro refresh.
What it does well:
- $599 entry point: the least expensive current Apple machine on this site, at 15W - an always-on inference box that disappears into a shelf.
- M4 Pro bandwidth: 273 GB/s matches the DGX Spark’s number at a quarter of the price, for models that fit in 24-48GB.
Where it falls short: the M4 base tops out at 16GB and 120 GB/s, so 14B dense 4-bit models are near the practical ceiling. Non-upgradeable.
Run it locally: Ollama or LM Studio. The modeldex results rank checkpoints by fit and estimated tok/s on this config.
Chip specs
- Apple M4
- 16GB unified
- 120 GB/s
- 2024
- Moderate
Top models (56 compatible)
Qwen3.8-27B
UD-IQ1_S
Runs comfortably
6.2GB / 8.0GB min
12
ⓘ estimated
Gemma 4 26B A4B
NVFP4
Runs tight
14.0GB / 15.0GB min
34
ⓘ estimated
Ornith-1.5-9B
Q4_K_M
Runs comfortably
5.8GB / 6.0GB min
12
ⓘ estimated
Qwen3 30B A3B
Q4_K_M
Runs tight
15.5GB / 15.5GB min
47
ⓘ estimated
Phi-4 14B
Q4_K_M
Runs comfortably
8.5GB / 8.5GB min
8
ⓘ estimated