Effort levels recalibrated in Opus 4.8

SWE-Bench Pro system card data shows a major shift in token consumption. The low-effort setting in Opus 4.8 now uses as many output tokens as the medium or high settings in 4.7 and 4.6.

The efficiency of Opus 4.8 on low effort matches the high level of 4.7. The medium setting in 4.8 consumes more tokens than the high setting in 4.7, approaching the absolute maximum of 4.6.

Developers should reassess generation settings. Increased token consumption directly impacts API speed and cost.