Claude Sonnet 4.5 to be officially discontinued on May 15, replaced by Sonnet 4.6
Anthropic announced that Claude Sonnet 4.5 will be officially discontinued on May 15, fully replaced by the new generation Sonnet 4.6.
Existing users must complete the model switch before the deadline, as the old version will no longer be available.
ABAB AI Insight
Anthropic continues to maintain a high iteration speed for its models, with Sonnet 4.5 being replaced by 4.6 shortly after its launch, aligning with its consistent "rapid release - rapid elimination" strategy. The new version is expected to show significant improvements in instruction adherence, reasoning ability, speed, or cost.
From a capital perspective, Anthropic forces users to upgrade to the latest subscription version by regularly discontinuing old models, while accumulating more real usage data for the new models, creating a rapid positive iteration loop.
Structural judgment: This is essentially a technological replacement. Anthropic directly replaces 4.5 with the more powerful Sonnet 4.6, driven by the fact that AI capability iteration speed far exceeds user adaptation cycles, pushing resources and attention towards the latest models and accelerating the industry's transition from "stable products" to "continuous upgrade services."
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Today's strongest model is tomorrow's legacy.
The faster the iteration, the harder it is for users to stay on the old version.
Whoever masters the fastest replacement rhythm will hold the long-term pricing power of AI subscriptions.