Claude Opus 5.6

Tracked as: Claude Opus 5.6 / Opus 5.7

Estimated release

Dec 8, 2026

Early Dec 2026

Details

Status: Not announced; Opus 5.5 shipped Sept 22 and Fable 5.5 is expected first
Current model: Claude Opus 5.5, 57.6 on the Intelligence Index, released Sep 22, 2026 ()
Projected score: About 60.6 (+3)
Typical cycle: About 60 days between releases

Opus has shipped every 6 to 10 weeks in 2026: 4.6 (Feb 5), 4.7 (Apr 16), 4.8 (May 28), 5 (Jul 24) and 5.5 (Sept 22)
Major versions are much further apart: Opus 4 (May 2025) to Opus 5 (Jul 2026) took about 14 months with five point releases in between (4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8), so a Claude 6 this year is unlikely
Each recent Opus followed a Fable release by 3 to 7 weeks (Fable 5 then Opus 5, Fable 5.1 then Opus 5.5); with Fable 5.5 expected in early November, the next Opus points to early December
Opus 5.5 (57.6) leads the Intelligence Index; point releases have added 1 to 7 points, so the projection assumes about +3

Source: Anthropic release history (Artificial Analysis API v2, Oct 2026)