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Mac mini M4 16GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

For running models locally, priced in the US. At 128k context the first runs 4 models fully in memory, the second 4.

In short

The Mac mini M4 16GB has more memory for models: 16 GB against 12 GB. At 128k context both run the same 4 models we track fully in memory. On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is about 5.4× as fast as the Mac mini M4 16GB (estimated, median across models). In the US the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $749 at eBay and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 $750 at eBay: the Mac mini M4 16GB is $1 cheaper.

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

Mac mini M4 16GB

$749

eBay

Add to build
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

$750

eBay

Add to build

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 16GBNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
ChipApple M4 (10-core GPU)–
Memory bus128-bit192-bit
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s672 GB/s
FP16 compute3.76 TFLOPS62 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 5070
Memory–12 GB GDDR7
Board power–250 W
PCIe generation–Gen 5
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 5070
Gemma 4 12B8tok/sQ4_K_M43tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.5 9B8tok/sQ4_K_M42tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.5 4B9tok/sQ8_047tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 E4B8tok/sQ5_K_M45tok/sQ5_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
Gemma 3 27Bwon't runoffload
Mistral Small 3.2 24Bwon't runoffload
Ministral 3 14Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 14Bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8Bwon't runoffload
Phi-4 14Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 8Bwon't runoffload
Granite 4.2 8Bwon't runoffload
Ministral 3 8Bwon't runoffload
LFM2.5 8B-A1Bwon't runoffload
Llama 3.1 8Bwon'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
Qwen3 32Bwon't runwon't run
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't runwon't run
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070?
Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 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 5070?
At 128k context both run the same 4 models we track fully in memory.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070?
On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is about 5.4× 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 5070?
In the US the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $749 at eBay and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 $750 at eBay: the Mac mini M4 16GB is $1 cheaper.

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