How the real world performance vs old m1 mba...
Cos the m2 mba cost 5.4~5.5k...for base model..

The M1 Air is being retained as the base model now. Maybe look at the M1 Pros to see if got good bargain now that it has been discontinued.

Well, the based model is still RM4399, so no increase there. However the 8 core CPU and 8 core GPU model costs RM100 more than the previous M1 model but given it’s a new chipset and new design, maybe that’s justified.

Really wanted to get this but the base model is priced so close to the base MBP.

Somehow, it doesn’t really make sense.

If I, will only can get base model...256gb, 8 gb ram....

M1 need sacrifice 1 usbc for charging,
M2 gor dedicate charging port ....
Hard to choose...

Yeah, there should have been a $100 price cut for the old M1. Anyways, lots of retailers are handing out discounts on the MBA M1 so those who really want one can hunt around.

ETA delivery - 01/08/2022 - 08/08/2022 — Free

Simple answer for you, I don't know how YOU use chrome. I love to open ~30 tabs on my laptop, not only that, I use BOTH Safari & Chrome. Safari for personal, Chrome for work accessing Google Drive, Docs etc. I got 60 tabs on my iPhone now. Don't listen to idiots who tell you there's folders and what not. How they use their computer is none of your business. Ask YOURSELF how YOU USE YOUR COMPUTER. At the same time I have WhatsApp, Slack, Outlook, Calendar open.

It is not heavy load, but it uses a lot of memory.

For MY USAGE, confirm I need to rely on swap even if its 16GB RAM. My 5600x + 32GB RAM uses swap too with my usage pattern. The MBA M2 base model, that slower SSD will definitely affect the performance. I was so ready to buy the MBA M2 in midnight base model, but the price hike AND the slower base model SSD basically turned me away from it completely. So now I am just waiting for my MBA M1 base model to arrive.

You do you, but facts remain as facts, that base SSD is slow and if you ever use swap memory, it'll slow the machine down.

From personal experience, Yes, Safari seems to work better than Chrome on MacOS. I use both for reasons outlined above.
Base spec. Best bang for bucks. Multitasking with many apps open != multicore. A faster CPU won't help WITHOUT the memory & swap keeping up.
The things I do are not heavy load, but uses a lot of memory to keep them "open".

For people who are heavy users, I recommend just get the MBP 14, you get the better screen, 2x external output.. rather than upgrading the MBA M2.

I've used the first unibody MacBook back in 2008, and after that I had the MBA 11, MBA 13, MBP 13 2015, MBP 13 2017, MBP 13 M1. MBA 11 was awesome for the portability, I used that laptop the most (now using iPad base spec).