Interesting (beneficial) behavior of `if let` when casting `nil` to `Optional` Type changed with Swift 5. Was it intentional?

Using Swift
2

Is this the same case that's called out in the Xcode 10.2/Swift 5 release notes?

In Swift 5 mode, when casting an optional value to a generic placeholder type, the compiler will be more conservative with the unwrapping of the value. The result of such a cast now more closely matches the result you would get in a nongeneric context. (SR-4248) (47326318)

For example:

func forceCast<U>(_ value: Any?, to type: U.Type) -> U {
    return value as! U 
} 

let value: Any? = 42
print(forceCast(value, to: Any.self))
// Prints "Optional(42)"
// (Prior to Swift 5, this would print "42".)

print(value as! Any)
// Prints "Optional(42)"
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