Best models for this Mac

16 modelsCatalog current through February 27, 2026

Mac Mini M4 16GB ranked for coding with a most capable bias, using the best available runtime evidence.

Mac

Capability

Bias

Runtime

Use the strongest current runtime evidence for each row.M5 Max watch: 8B 61.6 tok/s · 14B 34.3 tok/s on the current 36GB public anchor.

Rank	Model	Score	Quant	Tok/s	Runtime	Evidence	Headroom	Why it ranks here
1	Devstral Small 1.1	228	q4.1bit	43.0 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	2.8 GB	q4.1bit is the highest practical quality here. 43.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 2.8 GB headroom is tight.
2	Devstral Small 2 24B	210	q4.1bit	3.4 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	2.8 GB	q4.1bit is the highest practical quality here. 3.4 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 2.8 GB headroom is tight.
3	Mistral Small 3.1 24B	206	q4.1bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	2.8 GB	q4.1bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 2.8 GB headroom is tight.
4	Magistral Small	206	q4.1bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	2.8 GB	q4.1bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 2.8 GB headroom is tight.
5	Qwen 3 8B	194	8bit	63.1 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	6.7 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 63.1 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 6.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
6	Llama 2 7B	191	8bit	24.1 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	5.2 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 24.1 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 5.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
7	Qwen3.5-9B	176	8bit	3.1 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	6.1 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 3.1 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 6.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
8	Qwen 2.5 7B	173	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	8.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 8.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
9	Llama 3.1 8B	172	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	7.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 7.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
10	Qwen 2.5 14B	172	Q6_K	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	3.5 GB	Q6_K is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 3.5 GB headroom is tight.
11	Mistral 7B v0.3	172	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	7.7 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 7.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
12	Phi-4 14B	171	Q6_K	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	3.9 GB	Q6_K is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 3.9 GB headroom is tight.
13	Gemma 3 4B	136	8bit	100.5 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	10.4 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 100.5 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 10.4 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
14	Qwen 3 4B	136	8bit	143.2 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	10.6 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 143.2 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 10.6 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
15	Qwen 3 0.6B	136	8bit	184.4 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	14.8 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 184.4 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 14.8 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
16	Llama 3.2 1B	114	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	14.1 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 14.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.

Machine

16GBUnified memory

$499MSRP

mac_miniForm factor

m4Chip