If you use a Dockerfile during development you will need to have Docker desktop installed, otherwise you won’t be able to run docker build to create a container image on your laptop. For example, minikube start -kubernetes-version=v1.18.3 will launch k8s 1.18.3
You can pass minikube a command line argument to launch a specific version of k8s. Minikube supports the most recent GA version of k8s plus the previous 6 minor versions. Basically Docker is shipping the “most stable, widely used” version of k8s since many organizations run the oldest GA version of k8s in production. If you need an older version of k8s you will have to install an older version of Docker desktop. Currently it is not possible to change the version of k8s in Docker desktop.
