Samsung Galaxy Tab S12+ and Ultra Launch Oct. 7, Pricier

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S12+ and S12 Ultra arrive October 7 with a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip swap and European prices up €180–€200.

Samsung is launching the Galaxy Tab S12+ and Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra on October 7, 2026, and the headline change is internal: both tablets move to a 3nm MediaTek Dimensity 9500 with eight cores up to 4.21GHz and a 12-core GPU. German insider Roland Quandt confirmed the full spec sheets via WinFuture, and per Gagadget there is no redesign — the Galaxy Tab S12+ uses a 12.6-inch 2X Dynamic AMOLED display at 2800×1752 and 120Hz, weighs 555g (down from its predecessor), and packs a 10,600mAh battery, while the S12 Ultra steps up to 14.6 inches at 2960×1848, weighs 693g, and carries an 11,600mAh cell. Samsung is skipping a base model this year, offering only Plus and Ultra tiers.

The price increase is the surprising part. According to Gagadget, European pricing starts at €1,299 for the S12+ and €1,539 for the S12 Ultra, with a €200 premium for 5G variants — a €180–€200 jump over the S10 and S11 series, which Android Headlines attributes to the ongoing RAM shortage squeezing Samsung's mobile division, a division that posted a loss in Q2 2026. GSMArena reports expected US pricing of around $1,199 for the S12+ and $1,399 for the S12 Ultra. That positioning puts the tablets in direct competition with Apple's iPad Pro 13-inch, which starts at $1,299 in the US.

Per Gagadget, base configs start at 12GB RAM with 256GB or 512GB UFS 4.0 storage, and the Ultra adds a 16GB/1TB tier. Both are IP68-rated aluminum builds with an S Pen included, 45W fast charging, and MicroSD support up to 2TB. Cameras are unchanged at 13MP rear and 12MP front, with the Ultra adding an 8MP ultrawide; both shoot 4K at 60fps. The S12+ has stereo speakers while the Ultra carries four with spatial audio. Both ship with Android 17 and One UI 9.0, the same software Samsung began rolling out this week to the Galaxy S26 series and Z Fold8/Flip8 foldables, per Gadget Hacks.

Gagadget notes no official UK price has been confirmed, but estimates of £1,100–£1,374 put the S12+ against the iPad Pro 13-inch. Apple's slate offers a richer app ecosystem and Apple Intelligence integration; Samsung's counter is DeX mode and a bundled S Pen — and per Gadget Hacks, One UI 9's DeX improvements are part of that pitch, alongside a more customizable Quick Settings panel and Galaxy AI additions like Now Brief's Generative and Editable Cards. Whether the trade-off lands depends on how committed buyers are to Android, especially at a price roughly €200 above the previous generation.

Gagadget reports pre-orders are expected to open in late September ahead of the October 7 on-sale date. For existing owners, the upgrade case is thin: the design is nearly identical to the S10 and S11 generations and performance gains are incremental, with the S12+'s lighter weight the main physical change — making €180 more for a chip refresh a hard sell, per Gagadget. Buyers on older Galaxy tablets may instead wait on software: Gadget Hacks notes Samsung has not named the Z Fold6, Flip6, Fold5, or Flip5 in any One UI 9 rollout or beta announcement, and says only that the update will "gradually roll out" to other Galaxy devices.