Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S12+ and Tab S12 Ultra are officially on sale globally — and immediately priced out of contention for most buyers, according to early user sentiment tracked by GSMArena’s weekly poll. The Tab S12 Ultra starts at $1,400 for 12GB/256GB. The Tab S12+ begins at $1,200. Neither includes a keyboard, the Ultra’s optional Book Cover Keyboard costs $380 extra, pushing the full setup to $1,780 before tax or accessories.
That’s more than a 15-inch MacBook Air with M5 chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB storage ($1,500), and nearly $330 above a 16-inch Galaxy Book6 running Windows 11 on an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 ($1,450). An Acer Googlebook 14. With 2.8K OLED, Core Ultra 5, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, lands at $900.
All three laptops ship with keyboards, full desktop OSes, and no add-on fees for basic productivity. The iPad Pro comparison is tighter: the 11-inch model starts at $1,200, same as the Tab S12+, while the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,500. Matching the Tab S12 Ultra’s base price but including its Magic Keyboard support out of the box.
Poll respondents didn’t hold back. Most said the Tab S12 Ultra is ‘too expensive’. A vocal minority pointed out that last year’s Tab S11 Ultra still holds up, especially without meaningful upgrades like a 10-bit display or larger battery. Others noted Samsung’s retention of microSD expandability (a rarity in premium tablets) as one of the few differentiators left.
But even that hasn’t moved the needle: only 10% of voters leaned toward the Tab S12+, versus 10.2% who preferred a tablet 11 inches or smaller. And 9.7% who chose the iPad outright. Samsung skipped launching a vanilla Tab S12 this year, leaving a gap between the 11-inch Tab S11 and the 12.6-inch S12+.
That absence may explain why interest in the ‘+’ model barely edged past indifference. No Indian pricing was disclosed in the reporting. US availability is confirmed. Global rollout timing remains unannounced.
Price cuts, if they come. Will likely wait until early 2027, per GSMArena’s observation that ‘time will eventually whittle down the prices’.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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