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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is simply a large upgrade implicit 4.5.
- 1M-token discourse model (in beta) enables longer, richer sessions.
- It's present the default for escaped and Pro users, with pricing unchanged.
Just four months aft Anthropic released Claude Sonnet 4.5, and a week aft the institution debuted Opus 4.6, the AI elephantine is backmost with Claude Sonnet 4.6, a immense upgrade implicit the erstwhile version.
This caller Sonnet 4.6 model, disposable now, shows improved coding performance, amended machine usage skills, upgraded long-context reasoning, amended cause planning, and improvements to cognition enactment and design.
As with Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6 present includes a 1 million-token discourse model (in beta). This allows for overmuch longer and much analyzable enactment sessions without requiring a league reset oregon compaction.
Sonnet 4.6 is present the default exemplary for escaped and Pro tier users crossed the assorted Claude interfaces. Pricing for those plans (as good arsenic for Sonnet API use) has not increased.
Closing the spread with Opus
Anthropic provides 2 branded AI models astatine antithetic terms points, Sonnet and Opus. Opus has ever been the Cadillac of AI models, disposable astatine higher tiers and accrued per-token API telephone pricing. Sonnet has been much of an entry-level model, inactive rather capable, but with substantially little assets usage, enabling Anthropic to deploy it to escaped users and support its token terms down.
According to the company's blog station announcing the merchandise of Sonnet 4.6, "It approaches Opus-level quality astatine a terms constituent that makes it much applicable for acold much tasks."
According to the company's testing, show that antecedently would person lone been seen successful an Opus-class exemplary is present disposable for users of Sonnet 4.6. This caller exemplary besides shows large improvements successful AI-based desktop machine interaction.
There are immoderate applicable limits, however. The institution says, "The exemplary surely inactive lags down the astir skilled humans astatine utilizing computers. But the complaint of advancement is singular nonetheless. It means that machine usage is overmuch much utile for a scope of enactment tasks, and that substantially much susceptible models are wrong reach."
Developers similar it, adjacent implicit Opus 4.5
In aboriginal idiosyncratic testing, Anthropic recovered that developers preferred Sonnet 4.6 implicit Sonnet 4.5 astir 70% of the time. The institution says, "Users reported that it much efficaciously work the discourse earlier modifying codification and consolidated shared logic alternatively than duplicating it. This made it little frustrating to usage implicit agelong sessions than earlier models."
I americium funny astir that remaining 30% though. You'd deliberation with an apples-to-apples upgrade similar Sonnet 4.5 to 4.6 that astir each users would similar the newer model. I've asked Anthropic wherefore the remaining 30% presumably didn't favour the caller release. Stay tuned. If I larn anything, I'll stock it here.
Also: Claude Code made an astonishing $1B successful 6 months - and my ain AI-coded iPhone app shows why
When comparing Sonnet 4.6 to Opus 4.5 (the older frontier exemplary released successful November), developers preferred Sonnet 4.6 astir 60% of the time.
The institution reported that aboriginal users, "Rated Sonnet 4.6 arsenic importantly little prone to overengineering and laziness, and meaningfully amended astatine acquisition following. [Early users] reported less mendacious claims of success, less hallucinations, and much accordant follow-through connected multi-step tasks."
Given that the existent general-availability mentation of Opus is 4.6, this effect isn't a harbinger of a wide migration disconnected of the Opus exemplary by higher-tier users. But what it does accidental is that the "cheap seats" exemplary has improved capable to beryllium up to tasks antecedently reserved for higher-performing models.
Speed, practicality, and mundane workflows
Let's not underestimate the benefits of the higher performance, yet little assets usage, that Sonnet 4.6 shows. When utilizing the escaped and Pro tiers, Anthropic volition throttle usage based connected token usage and assets usage. Sonnet 4.6's improvements are akin to a car getting much miles per gallon erstwhile utilizing a caller gasoline, particularly if the "pickup 'n go" is inactive arsenic bully oregon better.
Also: 10 things I privation I knew earlier trusting Claude Code to physique my iPhone app
The four-times-larger 1-million-token model besides provides a applicable benefit. It tin clasp full codebases, lengthy contracts, oregon dozens of probe papers. Anthropic says, "More importantly, Sonnet 4.6 reasons efficaciously crossed each that context. This tin marque it overmuch amended astatine long-horizon planning."
Where Opus 4.6 inactive leads
Don't springiness up connected Opus, however. Opus 4.6 is inactive Anthropic's frontier exemplary champion.
The institution says, "We find that Opus 4.6 remains the strongest enactment for tasks that request the deepest reasoning, specified arsenic codebase refactoring, coordinating aggregate agents successful a workflow, and problems wherever getting it just right is paramount."
A applicable default for regular enactment
Anthropic is positioning Sonnet 4.6 arsenic a applicable regular driver. In galore cases, it's considerably faster than Opus 4.6.
In that way, determination are wide competitory parallels betwixt OpenAI's GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark and its GPT-5.3-Codex, with Spark the faster and little close mentation and the afloat Codex the frontier exemplary starring development. One large quality is that portion Anthropic says Sonnet 4.6 is faster, it's not making thing similar the 15x show assertion that OpenAI made of its Spark model.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's genitor company, filed an April 2025 suit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights successful grooming and operating its AI systems.)
For astir coding and cognition work, Sonnet 4.6 offers beardown performance, peculiarly for those connected the little pricing tiers. It besides offers a coagulated price/performance illustration for users moving with API calls who privation to get arsenic overmuch bang for the subordinate arsenic possible. Meanwhile, Opus 4.6 remains a viable escalation way for much analyzable problems needing deeper reasoning.
What astir you? Have you tried Claude Sonnet 4.6 yet? If so, however does it comparison to Opus successful your real-world workflows? Does the 1-million-token discourse model alteration however you attack coding, research, oregon agelong readying sessions?
Are you comfy relying connected the "cheap seats" exemplary for superior work, oregon bash you inactive escalate to Opus for high-stakes tasks? And if you're connected the escaped oregon Pro tier, bash these improvements marque you much apt to instrumentality with Sonnet arsenic your regular driver? Let america cognize successful the comments below.
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