On the October 10/28 release day of Apple Intelligence I opted in. My iPhone and iPad immediately went to "waitlist" and within 2 to 3 hours were ready to initialize Apple Intelligence.
My MacBook Pro 14" with M3 Pro processor and 18 GB or RAM has been stuck on "preparing" since release day (6 days now).
I've tried numerous workarounds that I found on forums as well as talking to Apple support, who basically had me repeat the workarounds that I found on forums.
I've tried changing region to an area that does not have Apple Intelligence and then back to the US, I've changed Siri language to an unsupported one and back to a supported one, and I have tried disabling background/startup Apps, I've disabled and reenabled Siri. Oh, I've restarted a bunch and let the Mac alone for hours at a time.
I've noticed that my selected Siri voice seems to not download.
Finally, after several chats and calls with Apple support, I was told that it's Beta software, they can't help me, and I should try the developer forums.... so here I am. Any advice?