Every other camera with the new Multi-function accessory shoe still comes with the traditional hotshoe contacts. This is the first camera to drop this feature.
But this is also the first entry-level body (e.g., dRebel in the EOS R system).
... To me, this is simply a dig at third party flash manufacturers by Canon.
Possibly. It is Canon thumbing its nose at the ISO standard for camera flash hotshoes which even Sony nominally tries to maintain with their multi-interface hotshoe by retaining the sync contact.
Entry level camera buyers are more likely to be looking at cheaper 3rd party flash units. I know I am. It was the same thing Canon tried to do when they dropped the center pin from the hotshoe on other entry level Canon Cameras like the SL3. This meant that 3rd party flashes wouldn't work on these cameras. However, eventually, Godox provided a firmware update that allowed their flashes to work on these cameras too.
But the thing is they can't be under any illusions that Godox won't be able to create compatible units with this new multi-interface hotshoe (not to mention video mics, lights, and monitors all of which Godox makes, too).
Godox has done a decent (though needing revision more than once
job reverse-engineering and decoding the Sony multi-interface hotshoe and building compatible hardware. They can do the same for Canon's multifunction hotshoe.
I think the decision to go this way is more to cater to the video market where camera sales are still growing, vs. the stills market where they're flat or declining.
I imagine that moving forward, Canon will start making their new flash units without the regular hotshoe pins so that everything (cameras and flashes) will only work with the new Multi-function accessory shoe.
They already did. See my other post with the EL-5 foot image.
But that will take time. In the meantime, why not allow for backward compatibilty?
They do. On the higher-end models
and with the AD-E1 adapter.
Entry-level they're probably assuming the purchaser is coming in without any legacy flash gear to worry about. Any one with that gear is more likely to get a higher-end body where that won't be an issue.
