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Can the Apple M3 Pro (18 GB) run ShieldGemma 9B?

63Good quality (B) · 63 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.

Yes, but slowly

Slow. At Q6_K it needs about 9.8 GB of 12.1 GB usable and makes one decision in about 1.1 s.

Best quant
Q6_K
Time per decision
1.1 s
Decisions per second
0.9/s
Input assumed
512 tokens
Returns
Probability or score

Best app to run it on the Apple M3 Pro (18 GB)

On macOS

Ollama

Command line + local API · runs on llama.cpp (ggml), MLX (Apple silicon, preview)

  • One command with Ollama’s own build of this model.
  • Serves an OpenAI-compatible API that other apps and coding tools can use.
ollama run shieldgemma:9b
  • LM Studio Point-and-click: search, download and chat in one window.
  • llama.cpp Usually the first to support new model architectures.

How we choose: the files published for this model, your operating system and GPU, whether it fits fully in memory, and published speed tests (MLX vs llama.cpp on Apple silicon, vLLM vs llama.cpp vs Ollama on NVIDIA). Details.

Download ShieldGemma 9B

Recommended for the Apple M3 Pro (18 GB): Q6_K. Every other quantization has its own download link in the table below.

Quickest · Ollama

One command downloads a ready-to-run version and starts a chat.

Get Ollama at ollama.com/download (opens in a new tab) · model page (opens in a new tab)

ollama run shieldgemma:9b

Quantized files · GGUF

Works in LM Studio, llama.cpp, Jan and Ollama. No sign-in needed.

Download the Q6_K file (opens in a new tab)

huggingface.co/QuantFactory/shieldgemma-9b-GGUF (opens in a new tab)

ollama run hf.co/QuantFactory/shieldgemma-9b-GGUF:Q6_K

Original weights · Hugging Face

Full-precision files from Google, for fine-tuning, vLLM, Transformers.

huggingface.co/google/shieldgemma-9b (opens in a new tab)

Free Hugging Face account needed: request access on the model page, and Google approves it (usually within minutes to a few hours).

Links checked 3 days ago against Hugging Face, Ollama and GitHub.

How it’s rated

Quality 63Good quality (B) · 63 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.
How capable the model itself is at Q6_K, from its editorial quality tier scaled by the quantization or precision. It’s the same on any hardware that runs this variant. Scale: A+ 85+ · A 70+ · B 55+ · C 40+ · D under 40.
Runs Slow
How well it runs on the Apple M3 Pro (18 GB): speed, capped by how well it fits in memory. Runs great: 30+ tokens/s (or near the image, video or decision speed target) · Runs well: 10+ tokens/s · Slow: 3+ tokens/s · Very slow: under 3 · Won’t run: doesn’t fit even with offload. A tight fit or RAM offload caps it at Runs well; heavy offload caps it at Slow.

Match score

To order lists, each result also gets a match score out of 100 from four parts. It favors the most capable model that still runs well.

PrecisionEditorial precision tier from the model’s published benchmarks, scaled by the quantization or precision used.28.5 / 45
Memory fitFull marks when the model fits in the share of unified memory the GPU can use; fewer when it goes past that limit.25.0 / 25
SpeedTime for one decision against a 100 ms target: reading the input plus any tokens the model writes.4.5 / 15
ClarityHow easy the answer is to use in code: a probability or score earns the most, written feedback before a score the least.15.0 / 15
Match score73.0 / 100

The match score orders results; it is not shown as a grade. Quality and Runs are the two ratings in the tables.

Every quantization on the Apple M3 Pro (18 GB)

Quant Memory needed Available Speed Runs Quality Download
Q4_K_M 7.9 GB 12.1 GB 1.1 s Slow 60Good quality (B) · 60 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 71/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. GGUF (opens in a new tab)
Q5_K_M 8.8 GB 12.1 GB 1.1 s Slow 62Good quality (B) · 62 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. GGUF (opens in a new tab)
Q6_K 9.8 GB 12.1 GB 1.1 s Slow 63Good quality (B) · 63 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. GGUF (opens in a new tab)
Q8_0 12.1 GB 12.1 GB 1.2 s Slowover GPU memory limit 64Good quality (B) · 64 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 58/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. GGUF (opens in a new tab)
F16 20.7 GB 12.1 GB — Won't run 64Good quality (B) · 64 of 100: how capable the model is at F16, whatever it runs on. Match score 8/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Original weights (opens in a new tab)

Times are for one request with a 512-token input and about 1 tokens written. Batching servers process many requests at once.

Other hardware that runs it

Quick answers

How much memory does ShieldGemma 9B need on the M3 Pro 18GB?

At Q6_K it needs about 9.8 GB. The M3 Pro 18GB has 12.1 GB usable.

How fast is ShieldGemma 9B on the M3 Pro 18GB?

It makes one decision in about 1.1 s at Q6_K, an estimate from the hardware and the size of the model.

Estimates come from published hardware specs and our open formulas, not from running the model on your machine. Real speed varies with runtime, drivers and settings. Numbers marked “Measured” come from a linked benchmark.

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