I’ve tried various packs for daily use:

1. The North Face Borealis (Classic)-29 Liters. This pack is going on 9 years old, and had only minor fraying. It held up to nearly daily use throughout high school and my first two years of college, as well as a few short camping trips. It was of an older model, and I’m not sure about the newer models, as they are of a different construction (though I believe they used the same materials, it is 28 liters instead; they did, however, add a separate compartment entirely for your tech, rather than including it as an elastic pouch in the main compartment).

2. The North Face Vault-26 Liters. I got quite a bit of use out of this pack, and I purchased it as an upgrade to the older Borealis two years ago, and for something more away from the vein of the outdoorsy nature of the Borealis. I would say for the purposes outlined in the original post, this would be the best bet for you. Mine did have some issues (the right shoulder strap began to separate from the body of the pack). This was due to frequent overloading of the pack, as well as pretty rough use. Overall, I feel as though this was the perfect bag for EDCing, school or work.

3. The Patagonia Refugio-30L model. This is the last day pack I will ever purchase. Solid, simple construction. It’s set up like a hiking pack, and focuses on what I’d refer to as “maximum crammability,” i.e., there’s very little in terms of organization. There are three compartments, one in the back to house a water bladder, the main compartment and a fairly deep quick access pocket to toss your junk into. It’s rugged construction leads me to believe that it will last me forever, coupled with Patagonia’s amazing repair/replacement policies, I can’t see another day pack in my future.

Included is an admin panel that slots nicely into the rear compartment where a water bladder would be stored, with enough organization capacity to hold my iPad and MacBook, chargers for both, a battery bank, and some other bits and bobs I use for work.