Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra price leak points to a $200 increase

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra has surfaced piece by piece rather than on a Samsung stage: certification records, a Google Play Console entry, a Geekbench run and, most recently, leaked US prices. Together they sketch a costly, conservative update. They do not yet amount to a confirmed specification sheet.

GSMArena reported on 20 August that a Bluesky source had US pricing for both models. The Tab S12 Ultra reportedly starts at $1,399.99 for 256GB Wi-Fi, moves to $1,599.99 at 512GB, and tops out at $1,999 for the 1TB configuration. The Tab S12+ starts at $1,119.99, with $1,349.99 for the 256GB 5G version and $1,399.99 at 512GB. GSMArena's framing is the part worth holding onto: both tablets would be "$200 more expensive in their base configurations than their respective predecessors."

Techtics, walking through the same leak, pointed out the awkward geometry it creates inside Samsung's own catalogue. The Tab S12+ would open at roughly what the Tab S11 Ultra originally cost — meaning last year's 14.6-inch flagship money now buys you this year's smaller tablet. That is a difficult pitch to a buyer who has already decided a tablet is their laptop, because it removes the sensible middle rung.

Notebookcheck's write-up of the Geekbench listing gives the clearest measured look so far. Model SM-X946B ran on a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 with 12GB of RAM under Android 17 and One UI 9, scoring 2,424 single-core and 8,446 multi-core — a result the outlet described as edging out the Tab S11 Ultra by a modest margin. One early benchmark is not a verdict, but the measured gain is modest rather than generational.

The rest of the certification trail is similarly flat. Techtics, working from CAD renders and certification images, notes the leaked dimensions match the Tab S11 Ultra almost exactly, the V-shaped notch survives a second year, the 11,600mAh battery and 45W charging carry over unchanged, and microSD expansion stays. The channel also flagged something odder: the FCC listing for the Plus specifies Wi-Fi 6 rather than Wi-Fi 7. For a tablet asking eleven hundred dollars in 2026, that is a strange line item.

No base Galaxy Tab S12 has appeared in the certification and database sightings cited by these sources. Tcol Tech reads that absence as a deliberate narrowing of the range toward larger, productivity-focused models. Until Samsung announces the line, an absent filing is evidence of what has surfaced, not proof that a smaller model cannot follow.

Not every claim in circulation survives contact with the filings. A widely shared Tcol Tech supply-chain roundup describes a grade-five titanium frame, a tandem OLED panel, a haptic S Pen that simulates paper drag, a roughly 5.5mm chassis and a $1,299 starting price — alongside a feature it calls "Neural DeX," described as local, on-device intelligence that reshapes Android apps into better windowed experiences in real time.

Take that as a wish list until somebody produces a document. The dimension figures alone conflict with the CAD-and-certification reporting, the pricing is off by a hundred dollars from the leak GSMArena published, and no certification body tests for chassis alloy or stylus haptics. None of it is impossible. All of it is unsourced in a story where the sourced parts have been unusually boring.

Techtics compared the reported Tab S12 Ultra package with the iPad Pro M5 across six buying scenarios. This was an on-paper preview, not a hands-on test of an announced Samsung tablet. Its useful point is about the platforms: an included S Pen and DeX favour Samsung for note-taking and desktop-style windowing, while demanding creative work still depends on whether the required Android tablet apps exist. Those established ecosystem differences are more dependable than a verdict on unreleased hardware.

Tcol Tech made a related point about longevity — that the Dimensity 9500 is fundamentally smartphone-class silicon in a much larger chassis, and that if you are spending flagship money on a device you plan to keep for years, Apple's desktop-class chip has more room to grow into.

If you own a Tab S11 Ultra, the current leaks offer little reason to plan an upgrade: nearly identical reported dimensions, the same claimed 11,600mAh capacity and 45W charging, plus a modest early benchmark gain. Techtics recommends skipping the generation and, for new buyers, watching Tab S11 Ultra pricing before paying launch money for the S12. That advice should remain provisional until Samsung confirms the hardware.

Samsung has not announced these tablets, so the leaked prices, timing and specifications remain unconfirmed. For now, the credible evidence points toward a processor update inside a familiar design, with a reported $200 increase at the base of each range. Claims such as Neural DeX may change that assessment if Samsung substantiates them. Until then, buyers lose nothing by waiting for the launch and the first independent tests.