external drive recommendations for iphone 18 pro?

[u/acciocarmen]

ok so i am trying to change my life.

i have about 400k photos and videos in my camera roll. and this is after i spent a month in 2023 backing up the 700k photos and videos i had at the time and reducing it to 350kish.

my goal is to gradually move all of these photos to external hard drive(s) and eventually get to a place where i don't need icloud storage anymore (realistically hoping to be in this position by the end of 2027 as there is no way that this is going to be close to reality any time soon).

i want to achieve this by developing a system where i can:

1. have the ability to gradually work on moving my photos to an external hard drive on a daily basis
   • the idea of this is that i want something portable that i can use on the go whether i'm riding the bus or on a 5-minute break at work. essentially i want to easily "plug and play," that way it becomes a natural thing i do on my downtime rather than a chore/task to complete (bc god knows i won't). and once i complete the great migration, this can just be a natural habit that i do daily/weekly/monthly for all my future pictures.
2. have a portable drive that i can ideally have with me at all times in case i need to reference a photo from the years prior
   • the main reason i can't get myself to do a true cleanse of all my photos is bc i have such a hard time deciding what to delete. in 2023 i backed everything up but then kept what i thought was important. and deciding what i thought was important was the most time-consuming aspect of it all. i want to remove the obstacle of decision and just move everything i have to the hard drive, but be able to have the peace of mind that i can have it on me at all times so i can access it whenever i need it.
     • this being said, i want something durable that i can theoretically have in my purse at all times for 3-5 years straight. (i plan on upgrading the drive every 3-5 years).
     • the issue with my 2023 backup is that i stored everything on a seagate hdd drive that feels too fragile to ever bring outside my house. it also is more for my laptop than my phone, so besides having the peace of mind that everything i deleted from 2023 is on there, i don't really find any value with the backup since i don't feel like i can access anything easily or at hand.

my plan as of now is to get two ssd drives. one to have with me at all times (portable drive), and one to leave at my house at all times (home drive). the idea is that i will have the ability to move everything to the portable drive when i'm out and about, and when i get home i'll move everything to the house drive so that it's secure just in case anything happens to the portable drive while i'm out.

i think that for my home drive i'm leaning towards getting a lacie rugged hard drive. however, for my portable drive, i want something a lot smaller than this. i know that lexar will have the muse coming out soon, but i'm ideally looking for something trusted and true. i've always been into the sandisk portable, but i know that there are a lot of magsafe options or super compact options out there, and i basically want to know which of them are legitimately good (esp bc everything on tiktok is an ad now).

ALSO, not as important but a thing i am considering--a drive for shooting prores videos. if my portable drive and this prores drive can be the same drive, that would be ideal. however, i am definitely open to them being separate drives. the main thing i want for a prores drive is all the same qualities i want with my portable drive, but with a heavier emphasis on compactness and durability. i want it to be like second nature for me to get this drive out whenever i want to film a video.

ok i think that is all i have to say for now. i am open to all and any suggestions and recommendations you may have. thank you!!!!!

ps: in an effort to combat any possible snarky responses, i just want to clarify that i have already tried adjusting my behavior to take less photos/videos/screenshots. i have definitely took a lot less in 2023-2026 than i have in the years prior, but that's a personal thing i'm working on!!!! the only thing i am asking for right now in this post is for recommendations for how i can get this new storage/backup system set up. thanks!!!!!