Rent a GPU

Can the Apple M5 (16GB) run Gemma 2 27B?

Apple M5 (16GB) × Gemma 2 27B8K context
NoDoes not fit in memory
Memory at Q4_K_M19.4 GB of 10.7 GB
Weights 16.5 GBKV cache 2.3 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, Gemma 2 27B needs about 19.4 GB, but the Apple M5 (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 gemma2:27b

At Q4_K_M it needs about 19.4 GB, so pick a GPU with at least 24 GB.

New to this? Step-by-step setup for the Apple M5 (16GB)

Run it in the cloud

Too big for the Apple M5 (16GB)? Run Gemma 2 27B 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 M5 (16GB) can use. macOS lets the GPU use about 10.7 GB of the 16 GB unified memory by default.

QuantQualityMemoryFits?Speed
FP16Full quality57.3 GBToo big—
Q8_0Near-lossless31.8 GBToo big—
Q6_KExcellent25.2 GBToo big—
Q5_K_MVery good22.3 GBToo big—
Q4_K_MGood, most popular19.4 GBToo big—
Q3_K_MNoticeably degraded16.2 GBToo big—
Q2_KHeavily degraded13.1 GBToo big—

Measured speed from real Apple M5 (16GB) owners

Tokens per second that people measured on their own Apple M5 (16GB), next to our estimate.

No one has measured Gemma 2 27B on the Apple M5 (16GB) yet. The speeds above are estimates. Run the benchmark and yours becomes the first real number on this page.

Have an Apple M5 (16GB)? Add your real speed

One command times Gemma 2 27B 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 -- gemma2:27b

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:GPUFIT_MODEL="gemma2:27b"; irm https://gpufit.dev/bench.ps1 | iex

How the benchmark works

GPUs that run Gemma 2 27B comfortably

Check Radeon RX 7900 XT prices

Models that run well on the Apple M5 (16GB)

Frequently asked questions

Can Apple M5 (16GB) run Gemma 2 27B?

No. Even at Q4_K_M, Gemma 2 27B needs about 19.4 GB, but the Apple M5 (16GB) has 10.7 GB usable. You could offload some layers to system RAM, but it will be very slow.

How much VRAM does Gemma 2 27B need?

About 19.4 GB at Q4_K_M with 8,192 tokens of context, and about 57.3 GB at full FP16 precision.

How fast is Gemma 2 27B on the Apple M5 (16GB)?

It does not fit in the Apple M5 (16GB)'s memory, so most layers would run from system RAM and generation would be very slow.