Install the OS first and see if it even affects you. That was one year ago, so it may not even be an issue now.

Since you’re a gamer and like PopOS, I think you’d really enjoy Garuda Linux.

Looks like you need to switch one driver to get full retina graphics going, but here’s how to do that: https://forum.garudalinux.org/t/macbook-pro-10-1-mid-2012-retina-garuda-works-but-one-more/23751/8

Check out Garuda here - I’m betting you’d like the Dragonized Gaming Edition: https://garudalinux.org/downloads.html

Install video here (don’t worry about the German language stuff, your installer would be in English) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYsL5J5vVC4

Yes, underneath they are all using a Linux kernel, but the user experience between Gentoo and Mint is radically different. And Fedora is a very different experience from Arch. Or Ubuntu vs Void.

I’ve recommended Zorin to my dad. I would not recommend Slackware to him.

It’s easy to say that Debian-Fedora-Arch are all Linux, but between all of their derivatives and all of the independent distros, there is a vast array of user experiences available.