Updated iPhone and two iPads yesterday. None of them had Apple Intelligence turned on after the update completed. Maybe it happens to some people but I doubt Apple deliberately re-enabled it in the update.
But, it also goes to show that Apple can tweak your settings at will, ignoring your prior preferences, which I think we can all agree should not happen.
It is also not the first time this happens:
- iOS 18.3 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/ios-18-3-macos-15-3-...
- iOS 17 https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/ios-17...