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Mac mini M4 16GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super

For running models locally, priced in Canada. At 32k context the first runs 15 models fully in memory, the second 16.

In short

The Mac mini M4 16GB has more memory for models: 16 GB against 12 GB. At 32k context the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super runs 16 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 16GB 15; only the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super holds Granite 4.2 8B. On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super is about 4.0× as fast as the Mac mini M4 16GB (estimated, median across models). In Canada the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $1,399 at Amazon and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super $1,400 at Amazon: the Mac mini M4 16GB is $1 cheaper.

Updated . Speeds are estimates; how they are worked out.

Mac mini M4 16GB

$1,399

Amazon

Add to build
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super

$1,400

Amazon

Add to build

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 16GBNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super
ChipApple M4 (10-core GPU)–
Memory bus128-bit192-bit
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s504 GB/s
FP16 compute3.76 TFLOPS71 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalCUDA
Unified memory16 GB–
GPU can use by default10.7 GB–
GPU can use, tuned10.666666666666666 GB–
Operating systemmacos–
ProcessorM4 10-core–
Storage256 GB–
GPU–GeForce RTX 4070 Super
Memory–12 GB GDDR6X
Board power–220 W
PCIe generation–Gen 4
PCIe lanes–x16

What each runs

Estimated decode speed with the most precise quant that fits each one est.

ModelMac mini M4 16GBNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super
Gemma 4 12B8tok/sQ5_K_M29tok/sQ6_K
Qwen 3.5 9B9tok/sQ6_K29tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B8tok/sQ4_K_M29tok/sQ5_K_M
Qwen3 8B8tok/sQ4_K_M29tok/sQ5_K_M
Qwen 3.5 4B14tok/sQ8_056tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B7tok/sQ5_K_M29tok/sQ5_K_M
Granite 4.2 8Bwon't run29tok/sQ4_K_M
Gemma 4 E4B9tok/sQ8_034tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B18tok/sQ8_070tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.1 8B8tok/sQ5_K_M29tok/sQ6_K
Qwen3.5 0.8B63tok/sQ8_0253tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3.5 2B46tok/sQ4_K_M185tok/sQ4_K_M
LFM2.5 2.6B16tok/sQ8_064tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 VL 3B16tok/sQ8_064tok/sQ8_0
granite 4.2 3b12tok/sQ8_048tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.6V Flash10tok/sQ4_K_M42tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.8 27Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.6 27Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 4 31Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.5 27Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 4 26B-A4Bwon't runoffload
Devstral Small 2 24Bwon't runoffload
GLM 4.7 Flashwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Kimi Linear 48B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
gpt-oss 20Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 32Bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 3 27Bwon't runoffload
Mistral Small 3.2 24Bwon't runoffload
Ministral 3 14Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 14Bwon't runoffload
Phi-4 14Bwon't runoffload
LFM2.5 24B A2Bwon't runoffload
Ministral 3 8B Reasoning 2512won't runoffload
granite 4.2 30bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek V4 Flashwon't runwon't run
GLM 5.3 Flashwon't runwon't run
Qwen 3.8 Flash Nextwon't runwon't run
MiniMax M2.7won't runwon't run
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10Bwon't runwon't run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12Bwon't runwon't run
Qwen3 Coder Nextwon't runwon't run
gpt-oss 120Bwon't runwon't run
Mistral Small 4 119Bwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.5 Airwon't runwon't run
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3Bwon't runwon't run
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't runwon't run
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Expwon't runwon't run
Devstral 2 123B Instruct 2512won't runwon't run
GLM 4.5Vwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.6Vwon't runwon't run
GLM 5.3won't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super?
Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super to run bigger models. Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super for speed. Choose the Mac mini M4 16GB to spend less.
Which can run bigger models, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super?
At 32k context the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super runs 16 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 16GB 15; only the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super holds Granite 4.2 8B.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super?
On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super is about 4.0× as fast as the Mac mini M4 16GB (estimated, median across models).
What is the price difference between the Mac mini M4 16GB and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super?
In Canada the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $1,399 at Amazon and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super $1,400 at Amazon: the Mac mini M4 16GB is $1 cheaper.

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