Good teasing anyway.
About APS-C, I think the Canon dilemma looks kind of :
- making a 7D ML successor while R5 is the only ML Canon camera to date that can do the same work. So an R7 would probably benefits more to some customers (lower priced fast camera with just the right specs for wildlife and sports), not much to the company (would just probably be lowering R5 sales).
- just keeping things as they are with only EOS M line as dedicated APS-C cameras targeted at people who wants to have a "carry everywhere" (and with more fun) system with still great IQ, keeping the users base OK with it and company probably more than OK with sales.
To my sense, Canon probably needs to analyze more precisely what would be the impact of providing an "R7" on future sales. In the past, many pros were having APS-C 80D/7D and FF 6D/5D/1D's as a duo or were not interested in FF at all (mainly because of prices) and were only owning a 7D, but maybe things have changed and this past situation can't be considered as a global market shape target anymore for a brand.
Nikon Z fc nowadays and future sales can also give some clues about how hobbyist customers expectations are evolving..
That plus the fact all the entry-level customers have mostly shipped to smartphones and a bit to EOS-M system...
Whatsoever, looks like fanboys are not even a point in those concerns..
Well very few people can afford R5 or R3 cameras so if Canon doesn't give them more affordable options , Sony,Nikon and Fujifilm will be happy to sell them something .
Canon and all the other companies need to give the customers want they want if they want to maximise sales and the more affordable options will sell in much bigger numbers than the expensive cameras like R5s , R3s and A1s.
An R7 camera based on the R6 with a new aps-c sensor and priced similar to the R6 or a bit lower would cost very little to develop and far outsell the R5 which only the wealthiest enthusiasts can afford and it's not taking away sales of the R5 as these buyers simply won't buy the R5 anyway as it's more than what they're prepared to spend.
Really how many hobbyists will spend USD $3,900 on a camera body and then thousands more on lenses ?
It's pretty hard to make a living as a pro these days too and not many of them can afford to update their perfectly good DSLRs.
Toyota is happy to sell Corollas and doesn't worry about hurting it's Lexus sales.
Smartphones have taken the really budget market away but enthusiasts and some pros still want to buy the medium priced gear.