> 32gb on my phone. I don't actually know how much storage my phone has.

It sounds like your phone has 32GB, no?

I made sure the Pixel 5a had at least 128GB. I think 256GB for ipad mini is a good amount for a consumption device.

I have a ton of photos, taken with high megapixel cameras and not just the phone - thus if you want those with you (not even talking about the propagated 4K and up videos from drones, phones and dslrs) it only starts to get interesting at 521GB+ (for the ones you keep).

If there’s ways of offloading video footage (lightroom for photos does work ok as a buffer) for editing-apps i’m more than happy to hear about alternatives other than adding it to your photos library or files.