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The dividing line is 2012. 2012 and later Macs have USB3. 2011 and earlier don't.
But there's one exception*, the 2012 Mac Pro. That's because the 2012 Mac Pro is the same as the 2010 Mac Pro; the only change they made between the 2010 and 2012 machines is which CPUs they stuck in as standard configurations. Aside from the CPUs, the hardware is identical. So no USB3 on the "2012" Mac Pro because it's really just the 2010 rehashed.
Obviously, unlike Apple's other machines, you can add a PCI card to a Mac Pro if you want USB3.
* I don't have a clue about the MacBook Air versions, so maybe those are different too.
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There's another oddity to add to this, you can add USB3 to some really old MacBook Pros, the pre-Unibody ones that had an ExpressCard slot.
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AllGold,
Agreed. USB was a game changer for the Mac but there are two dividing lines. The first line is in 1998 when Apple introduced the iMac, which did away ADB and other ports in favor of USB. Initially for peripherals of all types, i.e. mice, keyboards, printers, web cams, etc.
Apple including USB 1.1 on the iMac back in 1998 opened the door to compatibility with a far greater number of peripherals. Need a printer? No need to search for one with the proper port. Find a model with USB and just make sure support was already built-in to the Mac and/or a driver was available for it. Same goes for keyboards, mice, and a slew of other devices.
The second line is in 2012 when Apple shipped the first macs with USB 3.0. That was and still is a game changer but on a different level than USB 1.1. With 3.0, USB was finally fast enough to be used for more than just peripherals like input devices and printers. Fast enough that it could be used for boot drives, fast cloning of drives, fast extra storage, etc. Even now, when someone is looking for an old, used Mac, I tell them to avoid any machines that lack USB 3.0. It makes that much of a difference.
What is the next dividing line? Possibly Thunderbolt 3? Not so much because of Thunderbolt but because machines with Thunderbolt 3 have direct support for USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices. I wouldn't say Thunderbolt 3 and its support for USB 3.1 Gen 2 is as much of a game changer as USB 3 ports but, as time goes on, it'll definitely be a factor to look for when buying a used Mac.
Robert
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I was able to get USB3 (and eSATA) on my 17" MBP via the ExpressCard34 slot.
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OS support adds some other dividing lines.
USB 2 required OS X so OS 9 missed out, and USB 3 required 10.7 so Snow Leopard missed out.
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Snow leopard support is the ultimate dividing line.
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I used a USB 3 ExpressCard in my 2008 MBP, until an OS upgrade was incompatible with its driver.
