Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus: Leaks, Certifications, and Release Plans

The Galaxy Tab S12 Plus is shaping up to be Samsung's return to the mid-upper tier of its flagship tablet lineup, after the Plus model was skipped in 2025. A wave of certification listings and leaks in the first half of 2026 has revealed model numbers, the first live image, a rumored chipset change, and a launch window that multiple sources now fix to September 2026.

Certification Listings and Model Numbers

The clearest signal that the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus is real comes from regulatory certifications. The tablet appeared on South Korea's Safety Korea platform in early July 2026 under model numbers SM-X840 and SM-X846N . That listing also included the first front-facing image of the device.

Earlier, the Plus model was spotted on the IMEI database in late January 2026 as SM-X846B, the 5G variant . By February 2026, the same database carried the Tab S12 Ultra under model SM-X946B . In May 2026, batteries with codenames EB-BL345DAY and EB-BL715DAY passed certification by the Indian Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) . A firmware build labeled X846BXXU0AZE5 was also found on Samsung's test servers in India, Europe, and Turkey around the same time, confirming active software development .

First Live Image: Bezels and Camera Placement

The Safety Korea listing includes a front-facing image that shows thin, uniform bezels around the display, consistent with Samsung's recent premium tablet design language .

Crucially, the leaked image does not show a visible notch or cutout on the front. That aligns with a separate set of discoveries: animations found inside Samsung's One UI 9 beta (built on Android 17) depict a tablet with a center punch-hole selfie camera and thinner bezels . This strongly suggests the Tab S12 series will move away from the notch used on the Tab S11 Ultra. It is not yet confirmed whether both the Plus and Ultra models share the punch-hole design.

Rumored Chipset: From Snapdragon to MediaTek

The most notable hardware shift concerns the processor. References to the MediaTek MT6993 chipset — widely believed to be the Dimensity 9500 or 9500+ — were found in Samsung's AI Core app, strongly suggesting the Tab S12 series will use a MediaTek flagship SoC . Some earlier speculation mentioned the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but the MediaTek references are more recent and more specific . Samsung has not confirmed the chipset.

Position in the Galaxy Tab S12 Lineup

All certification evidence points to just two models: the Galaxy Tab S12+ (SM-X846) and Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (SM-X946). No standard "Galaxy Tab S12" base model has appeared in any listing so far .

The Plus returns after a one-generation skip — Samsung did not release a Tab S11 Plus in 2025 . This makes the Tab S12+ the mid-upper tier below the Ultra. Display sizes are expected to follow last year's pattern: the Ultra at 14.6 inches and the Plus at 12.4 inches . Battery capacity from BIS certification shows a nominal rating of 10,392 mAh for the Plus, which would be marketed at approximately 10,600 mAh .

Launch Timeline: September 2026

September 2026 is the consensus target across multiple sources. A tipster cited by SamMobile put it directly , South Korea's ETNews reported a September timeframe , and independent projections from Trusted Reviews and Notebookcheck flagged late summer 2026 based on Samsung's previous release patterns .

IFA 2026 (September 4–8 in Berlin) is a likely venue . Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S11 series in September 2025, so a September 2026 launch fits the annual refresh cycle .

Key caveat: Samsung has made no official announcement. All details remain in the leak and certification stage — dates, specs, and final design could shift.