I didn't say that the 7 series had the same AF system as the current 1D series at the time. My recollection... which could be completely incorrect was that the 7 series had the previous 1D's AF system.
At no point did I compare the 7 series AF system to the 5D's AF system.
My point was that the 7D/ii's relatively inexpensive price point had an AF system above what a similarly priced camera body would be. The totality of the 7D's feature were incorrectly priced in a market segment and was popular because of that as well as the "reach" discussions.
With many of your posts, I get the impression that you are missing the point of mine or misreading them and are arguing semantics without actually adding to the conversation. This is an open forum and that is to be expected but needs to be pointed out.
Perhaps you can suggest where a replacement 7Diii with equivalent features would be priced within the RF eco-system.
"Relatively cheap, weather sealed, dual cards,
borrowed AF system from the 1D series."
"They should have been priced at the 5D level based on the cheaper ASP-C sized sensor but more expensive AF system than a 5D."
Again, the 7D (2009) AF system was slightly more inconsistent from shot-to-shot than the contemporary 5D Mark II (2008) AF system was.
5D Mark II AF system was 9 points + 5 "AF Assist" points.
The 7D Mark II did not get a near 1-Series level AF system until 2014, two years after the 5D Mark III did in 2012.
At no time did the 7D series have a superior AF system to the 5D series. That was one of the basic premises of your suggestion that the 7D series should have been priced the same as the 5D series. (At a time when no competitor had an APS-C camera remotely priced at the 5D series level.)
The 7D most assuredly did NOT have the 1D Mark III AF system. It was a 19-point system introduced with the 7D and then later reused in the 70D.
The 1D Mark III, which was introduced in early 2007 a full two and one-half years before the 7D in late 2009, had a 45 point AF system that was also more accurate and consistent than what the 7D got.
The 1D Mark III was replaced with the 1D Mark IV at the same time the 7D was introduced in late 2009. It had pretty much the same AF system as the 1D Mark III, except that more of the AF points were cross-type.
As we've already pointed out above, Roger Cicala has well documented the performance differences between the 7D and the 1D Mark III.
The 7D Mark II, which came along in late 2014 did have the class of AF system you're talking about. But those of us who used the 7D know full well it's AF system was just as frustrating to use as the 5D Mark II's was, just in different ways. There was absolutely
nothing about the 7D or 5D Mark II AF systems that was 1-Series level, either current or past. That didn't start until the 5D Mark III in 2012 and the 7D Mark II in 2014.