Huawei's MatePad Pro 12 goes global on September 2 with a 4.7mm body and anti-glare OLED
Huawei is bringing its thinnest tablet to a global audience on September 2 at a launch event in Munich. The MatePad Pro 12 measures just 4.7mm thick and weighs 454 grams — noticeably slimmer and lighter than the MatePad Pro 12.2 it replaces (5.5mm, 508g). Pricing and full regional availability will be confirmed at the event, but UK buyers can expect positioning similar to the outgoing model, which launched at £699–£899.
The hardware
The centrepiece is a PaperMatte OLED display, Huawei's anti-glare panel technology that the company claims cuts reflections by 60%. Earlier PaperMatte screens earned strong marks from reviewers for reducing eye strain in bright daylight — useful if you sketch, take handwritten notes, or read for long stretches. The tablet supports the Huawei Glide Keyboard (which adds a multitouch trackpad) and the M-Pencil stylus.
The MatePad Pro 12 features a PaperMatte OLED display with a 60% reflection reduction and a slimmer camera module.
Internally, the global variant is expected to match the Chinese model announced in August: a Kirin T93 processor, 12GB of RAM, a 50MP main camera, and a 10,400mAh battery. Those are solid numbers on paper, and the razor-thin chassis makes them more impressive still.
The catch for UK and US buyers
HarmonyOS ships without Google services. No Gmail, no Google Maps, no Play Store — and no straightforward workaround for most consumers. That's a meaningful friction point for anyone already embedded in the Android or Google Workspace ecosystem, and it's a harder sell for businesses. US buyers face an additional barrier: Huawei remains on the US Entity List, meaning the tablet is unlikely to reach American retailers at all.
In the UK, Huawei has softened the blow before with aggressive launch-window deals — the MatePad Pro 12.2 launched with £100 off and a bundled keyboard. A similar promotion for the Pro 12 would make it a genuinely competitive alternative to the iPad Pro 13, which starts at £1,099. Whether the hardware excellence outweighs the software trade-off is a question only you can answer — but Huawei Central confirms the Munich event is where all the details land, including final pricing and availability for Europe and the UK.