Opus 5.5's new Max effort mode burns 6x usage, sparking benchmaxxing claims
TigerConsistent · reddit · 2026-09-23
A Reddit user questions Anthropic's new Max effort mode on Opus 5.5, which consumes 6x the normal usage. If Anthropic benchmarks on Max while subscribers stick to Medium/High due to rate limits, users may never see the performance shown in benchmarks. The author calls the 6x usage overhead insane and wonders what Max is actually doing — a pointed challenge to the benchmark-vs-reality gap.
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