However, a distributable version of pip will be included with each release so that ensurepip does not have to contact the PyPI servers during an install. And with each maintenance release of Python, this pre-included version will be updated to match the then-current pip release.
But, the bottom line is that pip still lives outside of the standard library. Python 3.4+ is just guaranteeing that you have a version installed.
I'm just not understanding how it's OK that a standard acceptance of a Python package really means that it should go to the graveyard.
To some extent this is intentional because anything that requires more frequent changes is probably not stable enough for inclusion in the stdlib, in practice it does cause some unintentional issues for example rather lacking timezone support.
Why wouldn't you be able to install packages? iOS stops you from making executable pages, but cpython runs bytecode anyway.
Isn't the standard library the place where packages go to die?
Isn't the reason pip is actually useful because has a nice health release cycle (http://www.pip-installer.org/en/latest/news.html) and isn't frozen into the standard-library ice age of the past?
Won't this make it even harder to build a compliant version of python that runs on mobile devices where you can't install packages (>_> iOS)?
I get that it's convenient, I'm not 100% convinced its a good idea.
Edit: Reading the PEP in detail its now clear that this is not bundling pip with python (see 'Including pip directly in the standard library'). This is bundling a pip installer as part of the standard library. Much better.