They talk about a vacuum tube and so on but specifically the point of the hyperloop was that it WASNT a vacuum tube

I mentioned in another comment that there are a couple different designs for levitation and all of them do not need a compressor system anymore. Even the air bearings can rely on on-board tanks of compressed air (even at full scale). The compressor is too expensive to implement and would require high power which isn't feasible since it adds cost and weight to the batteries.

> Right now this is just a fancy maglev.

Precisely. There are no air intakes on the nosecone. None needed, since there's no air hockey suspension.

I'm surprised more people didn't notice this. I was shocked when I saw the change.

The Best Overall Design Award was given by SpaceX to a design that's not Hyperloop as we know it—just a maglev in a tube.

The test track is too short to get up to full speed so the compressors wouldn't provide any functionality at this scale.

That's not how the hyperloop works. The air isn't for moving, it's for reducing friction using the air hockey table effect. The acceleration is provided by linear induction motors in accelerator sections. It's that combination which results in a high speed train at low costs.