How to install VMware ESXi 8.0 on 2018 Apple MacMini

VMware does not support running ESXi 8.0 on Apple MacMini regardless if it is Intel or Apple silicone. But there is still a way to install VMware ESXi 8.0 on the 2018 Apple MacMini. Follow the How to create a bootable ESXi USB disk on macOS article. Once you have a bootable USB drive, we need to edit boot.cfg file located under EFI/boot/:

$ vim /Volumes/ESXI/EFI/boot/boot.cfg

Add the following line at the very bottom of the file:

norts=1

Save and close the file.

Now we need to update boot.cfg under /bootbank partition before you reboot ESXi host. Press ALT+F1 to get into ESXi Shell. Login and update boot.cfg under /vmfs/volumes/BOOTBANK1 and /vmfs/volumes/BOOTBANK2 with the same configuration.