I agree, though OP is a little ambiguous if this is a 2012 Unibody (which has USB3 and one of the best old machines) or a 2012 Retina which he would be out of l

I agree, though OP is a little ambiguous if this is a 2012 Unibody (which has USB3 and one of the best old machines) or a 2012 Retina which he would be out of luck. I've upgraded multiple 2011/2012 Unibody MBP for friends and family with 16gb ram and a 512gb ssd for about $150 in the past few years, it makes the machine feel completely new and "snappy".