Do higher belt players still get heavier elo penalties on loss?

no, they don't probably. you get a heaver elo penalty if you have a better rank though.

Loss of Elo is based on the difference in Elo between the 2 players, the more "unexpected" so to speak the result is the more Elo will be lost/gained

Yes, to specify, the entire elo system still works exactly the same as before. The only difference is that your ranks are set to unranked and your elo is set to 1600 every single month.

Is elo and stuff just a rank thing and wont affect those that are unranked?

Elo affects you if you're playing in a ranked server only if that's what you're asking.