External hard drive for storage on the second generation SE

Hello,

First I want to mention that an iPhone cannot backup directly to an external storage device. You can either backup your iPhone using iCloud or a computer (Mac or PC). If you backup to a computer you would be able to move the backup files to an external storage device but would need to move them back to the computer to be able to restore your iPhone from the backup files.

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

The notes from the below article give information on the requirements for an external storage device to be able to be used with an iPhone.

Connect external storage devices to iPhone - Apple Support

"Note: An external storage device must have only a single data partition, and it must be formatted as APFS, APFS (encrypted), macOS Extended (HFS+), exFAT (FAT64), FAT32, or FAT. To change the formatting of a storage device, use a Mac or PC."

"Note: The Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter can be powered with a USB power adapter. This allows you to connect USB devices with higher power requirements, such as external hard drives, to iPhone."

Once you have the storage device connected you would need to use The Files App to move documents from your iPhone storage to the external storage device. In addition, the Photos App for iPhone does not have a feature to easily copy your Photo Library to an external storage device. To make the photos available in The Files App, Open Photos > Click “Select” in the top right corner of your Library > Select the photos you will want to move to the storage device > Click the share icon in the bottom left of the screen > Select "Save to Files."

Transfer files between your iPhone and computer with an external storage device - Apple Support

"Transfer files between your iPhone and computer with an external storage device

1. Connect your iPhone or computer to an external storage device, such as a USB drive or SD card.
2. To connect to iPhone, you may need a cable adapter. See Connect external storage devices to iPhone.
3. The first time you connect the devices, select Trust when asked on iPhone whether to trust this computer. (See the Apple Support article About the ‘Trust This Computer’ alert.)
4. Use a supported app like Files or Pages to copy files to the storage device.
5. For example, to copy a file from the Files app on iPhone to the storage device, touch and hold the file, then tap Copy. Tap Browse at the bottom of the screen, then tap the name of the device (below locations). Select a location for the file, touch and hold the screen, then tap Paste. See Organize files and folders in Files on iPhone.
6. Disconnect the storage device.
7. Connect the storage device to your other device, then copy the files to that device.
8. For example, to copy a file to your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, select the storage device (listed below Locations in the Finder sidebar), navigate to the file, then drag it to a folder on your Mac. See Connect and use other storage devices with Mac in the macOS User Guide."

I hope this helps.

Out of curiosity, are you already using the 5GB iCloud Storage that comes with every Apple ID or have you looked into the pricing of the different iCloud+ plans if more would be needed?

My iCloud backups are only about 1GB each +/- 300MB. However, I use iCloud Photos so my photo library is not included in the backups. You can exclude apps from being included which may be helpful if you are only using the standard 5GB iCloud Storage.

The monthly subscription prices for the U.S are below. Keep in mind that additional benefits of iCloud+ come with each plan.

iCloud+ plans and pricing - Apple Support

"United States4 (USD)

50GB: $0.99

200GB: $2.99

2TB: $9.99

6TB: $29.99

12TB: $59.99"