Max reasoning is not always the right answer.
Right answers on two 300-step calculations
Right answers on 14 level-10 questions
On the most complex questions, high effort solved them; max effort over-analysed and ran out of room.
At max, Opus spent 503 to 630 tokens a step, so 300 steps need more than one reply holds (128,000).
What it means for you. Do not default to the highest setting. Test effort settings on your own questions. Read finding 2 → Read finding 7 →
Tested: Opus 5.5 max: Claude Code 2.1.292 to 2.1.301, October 8–15; high: Claude Code 2.1.301, October 15 · GPT-5.5: Codex 0.154.0, October 4, 2026