MacBook Pro won't turn on

Thank you in advance to anyone who is willing to help me with this.

I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15 inch that I got in December 2012. I am about to graduate from college, but I still have a number of final papers and a 60-page thesis that is not quite finished. My computer will not turn on and I am desperate for a solution. I am going to take it in first thing in the morning but I figured I would try this forum out first.

In hindsight, I realize that I did not treat my laptop properly. For one, I have been getting "startup disk almost full" reminders for a few weeks, I have just been so busy that I didn't take the time to transfer files to another hard drive. I have also completely depleted the battery several times, to the point that my MBP "dies" and I have to charge it for awhile before it will turn back on. Only today did I find out that this is terrible for the battery. The last two times I let the battery run all the way down, it took a LONG time for the computer to turn back on. I had to charge it overnight, but both times it turned on in the morning. When it turned on, the battery would be about 2/3 full.

I let the battery run out again early this morning, around 5am. It has been connected to a power source ever since, but it has been nearly 24 hours and the **** thing still won't respond at all when I press the power button. The magsafe adapter seems to be working fine, and the green light is still shining brightly. I tried doing an SMC reset and it didn't work. Computer still wouldn't turn on and there was no change in the magsafe light at all.

A couple of months ago, I spilled a tiny drop of tea on the trackpad, but I got the trackpad replaced and it has seemed to be doing fine since then. I am fairly sure that the problems with taking a long time to turn on after battery depletion started prior to the water damage and trackpad replacement.

I do have AppleCare, but since Apple doesn't mess with water damage I took it to a reputable third party to fix the trackpad. Does this mean I have invalidated the AppleCare? I am trying to figure out whether I should take my MBP to Apple or to the third party. Also, does anyone have any idea about what the issue might be? Potential fixes?

Thanks so much.

-Panicked College Student

Edit: thanks chscag for fixing the title...I accidentally deleted my original title

The important thing here is not whether your computer needs some repairs -- clearly, it does, starting with a new battery. The important thing in the short term is to find out if your hard drive in functional and the data on it is intact. There's nothing we can do from here to help you with this, so I would recommend taking it to the Apple Store and telling them what you've told us. They'll find out what's going on, and perhaps extract the hard drive and put it into a case so you can transfer its contents to a larger hard drive.

You don't need me to tell you that filling up the hard drive was a bad idea, running the battery completely down repeated was a bad idea, and that spilling tea -- a very acidic drink -- into a computer is also a bad idea. I suspect you're looking at quite a bill, but hopefully a new battery and larger HD will put you back on the path until you can get a newer computer. I'm guessing you didn't have a backup either, so again the primary thing is to ensure that your work hasn't been lost first and foremost.

Many thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

I do have a backup but unfortunately it is a couple of months old. I won't be making that mistake again (or the rest of these mistakes, for that matter).

Just to clarify, do you think I should tell Apple about the water damage and trackpad replacement? Also, in the interest of getting everything fixed as quickly as possible, is Apple the fastest solution or would a third party be able to fix things more quickly?

Yes, you need to be entirely upfront about it. Lying or omitting important details will be easily found out once they open up the machine, and really you're counting on goodwill and sympathy here, so be honest!

I can't say if Apple or a third party would be able to fix things more quickly (for the love of all that's holy DO NOT take this to anybody but an Apple Authorized Service Provider!), but an Apple Store if one is near you will be far more expert at diagnosing what needs to be done. Whether you want them to do it or someone else to do the work is up to you.

Thanks again for the help, and for responding so promptly. Now I can take my mind off of it until the morning so I can finish studying for my test.

I live in Austin, so I have multiple Apple Stores and authorized service providers. The earliest Genius Bar appt I could get is Saturday at 12:15pm, but my plan right now is to take it to an authorized service provider (Austin Mac Works) first thing in the morning and see what they have to say. I realize now that the place that replaced my trackpad (Happy Mac) is not an authorized service provider, although they are very popular and have good word of mouth here in town.

I'll report back once I figure it all out.

Yes, you're in an excellent town for Mac support! Please let us know what you find out and opt to do.