I'm exactly in the same boat as you, I love my 2012 non retina Macbook Pro. Upgraded the RAM a few years ago, changed the HDD for an SSD, and it still works fine. I didn't like the newer MBP keyboard or touchbar, maybe now they're getting better. But the price is what will push me away. I'll probably try to find a nice model on which I can make sure Linux run fine.