diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3fd17e09..6fc8f208 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,5 @@
 out*
 *.tar.gz
 *.out
+istio-*
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index e0e0a712..e9bd99c4 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config
                                                                                                    
 Mac: `$ADMIRAL_HOME/tests/install_istio.sh 1.7.4 osx` 
 
+Mac (Apple Silicon): `$ADMIRAL_HOME/tests/install_istio.sh 1.7.4 osx-arm64`
+
 Linux: `$ADMIRAL_HOME/tests/install_istio.sh 1.7.4 linux`                                                                                            
 
 * Set up necessary permissions and configurations for Admiral
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 36185303..201e10d1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 DOCKER_REPO?=admiralproj
 IMAGE?=$(DOCKER_REPO)/admiral
 DOCKER_USER?=aattuluri
-KUSTOMIZE_VERSION?=3.8.2
+KUSTOMIZE_VERSION?=4.5.5
 
 DOCKERFILE?=Dockerfile.admiral
 
diff --git a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/kustomization.yaml b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/kustomization.yaml
index 3d07e34e..6d811ac2 100644
--- a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/kustomization.yaml
@@ -7,5 +7,4 @@ bases:
   - ../../base
 
 resources:
-  - greeting.yaml
-  - namespace.yaml
+  - greeting.yaml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/namespace.yaml b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/namespace.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 6aa0772c..00000000
--- a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-bluegreen/namespace.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Namespace
-metadata:
-  name: sample-rollout-bluegreen
-  labels:
-    istio-injection: enabled
diff --git a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/kustomization.yaml b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/kustomization.yaml
index ca0714b5..0ac4a029 100644
--- a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/kustomization.yaml
@@ -8,4 +8,3 @@ bases:
 
 resources:
   - greeting.yaml
-  - namespace.yaml
diff --git a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/namespace.yaml b/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/namespace.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index ea6b5da3..00000000
--- a/install/sample/overlays/rollout-canary/namespace.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Namespace
-metadata:
-  name: sample-rollout-canary
-  labels:
-    istio-injection: enabled
diff --git a/tests/create_cluster.sh b/tests/create_cluster.sh
index 0bc7dd5e..f0b10e62 100755
--- a/tests/create_cluster.sh
+++ b/tests/create_cluster.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-[ $# -lt 1 ] && { echo "Usage: $0 <k8s_version>" ; exit 1; }
+[ $# -lt 1 ] && { echo "Usage: $0 <k8s_version> "; exit 1; }
 
 k8s_version=$1
+driver="--vm-driver=virtualbox"
+
+# apple silicon does not support virtualbox
+if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* && $(uname -m) == 'arm64' ]]; then
+  driver="--driver=docker"
+fi
 
 echo "Creating K8s cluster with version: $k8s_version"
 
@@ -13,7 +19,7 @@ if [[ $IS_LOCAL == "false" ]]; then
   sudo -E minikube start --vm-driver=none --kubernetes-version=$k8s_version
 else
   echo "Creating K8s cluster with virtualbox vm driver"
-  minikube start --memory=4096 --cpus=4 --kubernetes-version=$k8s_version --vm-driver "virtualbox"
+  minikube start --memory=4096 --cpus=4 --kubernetes-version=$k8s_version $driver
   #label node for locality load balancing
   kubectl label nodes minikube --overwrite failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/region=us-west-2
-fi
\ No newline at end of file
+fi
diff --git a/tests/install_istio.sh b/tests/install_istio.sh
index 71085ff0..c1d3e870 100755
--- a/tests/install_istio.sh
+++ b/tests/install_istio.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 function ver { printf "%03d%03d%03d%03d" $(echo "$1" | tr '.' ' '); }
 
-[ $# -lt 2 ] && { echo "Usage: $0 <istio_version> [osx|linux]" ; exit 1; }
+[ $# -lt 2 ] && { echo "Usage: $0 <istio_version> [osx|osx-arm64|linux]" ; exit 1; }
 
 istio_version=$1
 os=$2
@@ -28,13 +28,6 @@ kubectl create secret generic cacerts -n istio-system --from-file="istio-$istio_
 
 #Generate, install and verify Istio CRDs
 
-if [ $(ver $istio_version) -lt $(ver 1.8.6) ]
-then
-    echo "Istio version $istio_version is no longer officially supported by this version of Admiral"
-    exit 1
-else
-    #install istio core with DNS proxying enabled and multicluster enabled
-# TODO Also add east-west gateway to this installation
 cat <<EOF > cluster1.yaml
 apiVersion: install.istio.io/v1alpha1
 kind: IstioOperator
@@ -86,6 +79,15 @@ spec:
                 targetPort: 15443
 EOF
 
+if [ $(ver $istio_version) -lt $(ver 1.8.6) ]
+then
+    echo "Istio version $istio_version is no longer officially supported by this version of Admiral"
+    exit 1
+#install istio core with DNS proxying enabled and multicluster enabled
+elif [ "$os" == "osx-arm64" ]; then
+    # defalt image does not support iptable manipulation on apple silicon - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72073613/istio-installation-failed-apple-silicon-m1
+    "./istio-$istio_version/bin/istioctl" install -f cluster1.yaml --set hub=ghcr.io/resf/istio -y
+else
     "./istio-$istio_version/bin/istioctl" install -f cluster1.yaml -y
 fi
 rm -rf cluster1.yaml
diff --git a/tests/run.sh b/tests/run.sh
index 620159f5..1f2e1b0c 100755
--- a/tests/run.sh
+++ b/tests/run.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ source ./create_cluster.sh $k8s_version
 # Uncomment below line if setup fails due to KUBECONFIG not set
 export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config
 # change $os from "linux" to "osx" when running on local computer
-if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
+if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* && $(uname -m) == 'arm64' ]]; then
+  os="osx-arm64"
+elif [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
   os="osx"
 else
   os="linux-amd64"