Those Mid-2012 MBPs are really are excellent workhorses. I'd still be using mine (an MD101LL/A bought new in 2016), but it has become too slow for most internet related things.
So in 2023, I upgraded to a 2013 rMBP, and it runs all the same stuff, but just enough faster to be worth while (I got it for about $200, which seemed like an OK deal at the time).
I'm tempted to get an M1 MBA because they're getting pretty cheap right now (who knows how long they'll remain supported, given Apple's notoriously frugal and stingy approach to supporting older hardware), but I can wait awhile because this rMBP is still good enough (I installed Sequoia via OCLP, and while it runs a bit slower and hotter, it still feels faster than my old 2012 once up and running).
c