Can Qwen 3.5 9B run on Mac mini M2 24GB?

YES — Runs Great

S91Excellent

○Estimated from fit model

Qwen 3.5 9B needs ~11.2 GB VRAM. Mac mini M2 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~13 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 11.2 GB, 12.7 tok/s, Runs well

11.2 GB required17.3 GB available

65% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

12.7 tok/s

TTFT

15211 ms

Safe context

60K

Memory

11.2 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache2.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3.5 9B on Mac mini M2 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
 if len(arr) <= 1:
 return arr
 pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
 left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
 middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
 right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
 return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers)) # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
 """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

 Args:
 arr: List of integers to sort.

 Returns:
 A new sorted list.
 """
 if len(arr) <= 1:
 return arr
 pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
 left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
 middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
 right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
 return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 12.7 tok/s decode · 15.2s TTFT (warm) · 32 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Shared-memory contention still exists

The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	S	Runs well	12.7 tok/s	8297 ms	60K
Coding	S	Runs well	12.7 tok/s	15211 ms	60K
Agentic Coding	S	Runs well	12.7 tok/s	22125 ms	60K
Reasoning	S	Runs well	12.7 tok/s	17977 ms	60K
RAG	S	Runs well	12.7 tok/s	27656 ms	60K

Quantization options

How Qwen 3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac mini M2 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	S88
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	S89
NVFP4	4	5.0 GB	Medium	S90
Q4_K_M	4	5.5 GB	Medium	S90
Q5_K_M	5	6.5 GB	High	S91
Q6_K	6	7.4 GB	High	S92
Q8_0Best for your GPU	8	9.6 GB	Very High	S93
F16	16	18.5 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3.5 9B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3.5:9b

Frequently asked questions

See all results for Mac mini M2 24GB See all hardware for Qwen 3.5 9B

URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/qwen-3.5-9b-on-m2-24gb