Galaxy Tab S12 Plus and Ultra: Prices, Specs and Release Date
Samsung will put two tablets on sale on October 7th: the 12.6-inch Galaxy Tab S12 Plus starting at $1,199 and the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra starting at $1,399 The Verge. There is no standard Tab S12.
The Plus is the bigger change. It is a rework of the two-year-old Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, and it is thinner and lighter than that machine. The processor moves from a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Plus to a MediaTek Dimensity 9500. Battery capacity is 10,600mAh. At $1,199, it costs $200 more than its predecessor.
The base Plus pairs 12GB of RAM, the working memory used to run apps, with 256GB of storage, the space for files and apps PhoneArena. A 5G-enabled version, which can use mobile data away from Wi-Fi, costs $1,349.99. That cellular option fits field work, shared data pools, and setups where Wi-Fi cannot be assumed.
The Ultra is iterative by comparison, with few changes from the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. The display stays at 14.6 inches. The chassis is 5.1mm thick. The battery is 11,600mAh. The starting price of $1,399 is also $200 more than its predecessor. Higher Ultra versions were listed at 12GB of RAM with 512GB of storage for $1,599.99 and 16GB of RAM with 1TB of storage for $1,999.99 PhoneArena.
The cameras are split simply. The Ultra has two cameras on the back. The Plus has one AndroidHeadlines.
Much of the platform is shared. Both use OLED displays, a screen type known for deep blacks and strong contrast, with 1,600 nits of peak brightness, a measure of how bright the screen can get. Both carry an IP68 rating, a standard rating for dust and water resistance. Both will get seven years of Android updates. An S Pen stylus ships in the box with both. Both have upgraded four-channel spatial audio, which spreads sound more widely.
The software point with the most practical effect is Adobe Photoshop for Tablets. It will debut on Android on Galaxy tablets and stay exclusive to the Galaxy Store for six months. Android has lacked native Photoshop for photo and design work until now. That timed exclusive gives Samsung a short window as the only Android option.
The broader context here is the release rhythm. Samsung refreshed the Plus after two years while leaving the Ultra largely intact, which points to the 12.6-inch tier as the volume work device that needed new silicon and a thinner body.
In my view, that division is sensible. Ultra buyers already get screen area and battery life that are hard to improve without adding weight or cost.
Looking at what this means for daily professional use, the less flashy details will matter more than the spec sheet. Seven years of updates changes replacement planning and lets a fleet stay in service through more OS cycles without a security cutoff forcing an upgrade. IP68 changes where a tablet can be used without a case. A stylus in the box changes the cost math for note-taking, markup, and review.
Worth flagging for buyers is the $200 increase on both models. The Plus now starts where many laptops start. For readers who live in documents and video calls, the question is whether pen input, OLED brightness, cellular data, and portability balance that cost against a notebook. For readers who sketch, annotate, or review visual work with clients, the arrival of Photoshop on Android may answer that faster than any hardware comparison.
From watching my own children move from shared family PCs to phones to tablets and back again based on the task, I see the same pattern for work users. Form factor follows workflow. Samsung is not offering a replacement for everything else, but a clearer choice: a lighter 12.6-inch system with current silicon for mobile work, and a large 14.6-inch canvas left largely unchanged because it already fits its niche. That clarity, plus long support and a real creative app at launch, is what makes this release useful.
