I reactivated my CoX account to try this (and check up on my characters) and I'm somewhat underwhelmed. I had no problems installing or updating unlike others. However, in case there was any doubt (even though it's clearly stated everywhere), it's very much a Cider port, meaning that it runs like one. This isn't as big an issue for the Hero side as it is for the Villain side.
I'm playing this on a early 2008 MBP, and while I know the 8600m GT isn't the fastest card out there, the game isn't exactly new and the performance doesn't accurately reflect that.
Frame rate jumps around anywhere from 10-50fps while outside and generally is around 60fps on indoors maps that are small and uncomplicated (and aren't one of the few that are notorious for being frame rate killers; this also assumes that there aren't a billion effects going on at once, which is quite common in large teams). Anyone familiar with the game knows that the Villain maps are more demanding on the system and thus the lower performance numbers reflect that, while the Hero maps are older and less demanding and generally are 25fps or more on the outside maps.
It also doesn't help that certain graphical effects from my stalker's key powers really drag the frame rate down, but that's less about the MBP and more about the game in general as it does that on my (non-Apple) desktop as well, although the hit is far less noticeable.
Additionally, I'm not sure if it's a limitation of Cider or not (my Cider experience is pretty much limited to Spore, and now this), but anti-aliasing isn't even available, and it's just as well since it'd require dropping the resolution from native to make it useful.
I appreciate them "porting" the game and think folks with iMacs should have a pretty good experience, but I'm not so sure about everyone else (without having to seriously cut settings, anyway).
I'm not sure they'll pick up many new subscribers with the port, but those interested in the Hero side ought to be able to enjoy the game on a reasonably powerful system, while those looking to play on the Villain side may want to stick to playing it in Windows.
By the way, for those are new to this game, the beta is a rather terrible way to judge what it normally plays like in terms of population and grouping. The test server is almost empty and the experience is quite different, and better, on the live servers.
A final note: anyone wanting to playing it in windowed mode, command-return is your friend once the game has started. That, at least, works as expected.
