All 9S12 devices have on-chip Flash and RAM, and are intended primarily for single-chip mode operation. The 9S12D family also includes on-chip EEPROM, which is useful for storing non-volatile data. The latest versions of S12 (designated S12X) may include an XGATE RISC co-processor, which can be used for real-time processing of low-level tasks while the enhanced S12 CPU can handle the higher level executive functions.

There are several S12 and S12X families available. Products utilizing the 9S12C, 9S12D, 9S12E, 9S12NE, 9S12P (coming soon), 9S12XD, 9S12XE, and 9S12XS families are currently offered by Technological Arts. 9S12C is a low-cost consumer part, with on-chip CAN subsystem; 9S12D has multiple CAN channels and includes EEPROM; 9S12E has IrDA and DAC subsystems; 9S12P has an enhanced CPU, CAN, 12-bit A/D, error-correcting emulated EEPROM, and high bus speed; and 9S12NE has a complete PHY/MAC on-chip, for easy implementation of 10/100-BaseT networks.

Technological Arts S12 products are offered in a few standard form-factors:

• DIP format: the NanoCore12 family is a superset of the popular BASIC Stamp pinout but is based on the 9S12C MCU family
• Arduino format: Esduino is an Arduino-compatible hardware format which supports most popular Arduino shields and is based on the 9S12C MCU family
• Adapt11 format: Adapt9S12C has an identical form-factor to the original Adapt11 product that was very popular in the 68HC11 era but is based on the 9S12C MCU family
• neCore12 format: This is a wide (0.9-inch) 40-pin DIP format used exclusively for the 9S12NE64-based neCore12 product
• Adapt9S format: All other products in the S12/S12X category conform to the standard modular Adapt9S form-factor established several years ago by Technological Arts. This versatile form-factor supports the stackable shield approach of Arduino, as well as several other topologies.