Just go back to the old days, RTX 3060 SE a.k.a slow edition and put lower price tag than the 12GB but no, that'll be to easy to understand.
Nvidia intention here is to confuse the customer with the naming and everyone will blame the user for not doing proper research when they bought the wrong 3060.
They not only confuse the customer, they also confuse the retailer with their non-up-to-date shit pricing. Same price as 12GB? Wut
They have been doing this for the longest time, much more often than AMD. Anyone remember GTX 560 Ti 448 cores?