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Well, "female" as an adjective referring to people already means woman.

No, it doesn't. Female is a sex, not a gender identity.

The whole idea of being trans is that one's sex and gender identity don't sync up in the way they typically do, right?

So if someone says they're trans, and you ask them how their sex and gender identity are out of sync, would you ever expect their reply to ever be "because I'm female and identify as a woman"?

Of course you wouldn't. That's how a woman who isn't trans would describe herself.

And "female" as a noun (e.g., "the females") is a terrible way to refer to people, to begin with.

Like it or not, there is no other single word in English that covers everyone of that sex, encompassing all ages. So it (along with the noun "male", of course) definitely has circumstances where it's perfectly appropriate to use.