There is another option. It's not cheap up front, but depending on your use case and an 'in it for the long haul' perspective, it might be worthwhile.
A lot hinges on just how fast data transfer you need for a lot of your content. If you need storage well over 2 terabytes, and even over 4, I'm guessing you've got very large media file collections - a huge photo library and/or a large video library. Some of those things can be accessed quite workably without Thunderbolt 3, 4 or 5 speeds.
Consider a NAS (Networked Attached Storage), likely either a 2 or 4 bay product, perhaps in a RAID 1 setup where one drive mirrors the other, to give you backup/redundancy. You can save money and/or get HUGE capacity using traditional hard disc drives, or go for the fast, silent and expensive SSDs.
In a nutshell, you could have this connected to your Mac at home via ethernet, and at home and abroad via wifi/online access. From what I've seen recently browsing the subject, you could drop a grand for the NAS + a pair of hard discs, and no, even ethernet 2.5 or (more expensive) 10 gbps (or USB-C, on one I read about), is a match for Apple's internal SSDs. Granted. But consider a few things...
1.) If the speed is fast enough for you to work comfortably with the media files you use, does it matter that much if Black Magic speed tests show the internal is so much faster?
2.) Unlike the internal SSD, your NAS and its drives aren't married to your current Mac. They can follow you to your next Mac.
3.) You can have your files accessible to a number of devices, potentially backup a number of devices, and you've got built-in redundancy with the right RAID option.
4.) If a drive goes bad, you can replace it, and again with the right RAID and disc setup, I don't think you'll lose any files.
5.) You can get far more capacity than you're likely to even want in the next decade. If 4 terabytes aren't enough now, will 8 be enough in several years? Do you want to even imagine what Apple might charge for a 16 terabyte internal SSD?
6.) I don't know how cross platform given models are, but people back up various devices and some use a NAS as a Plex server; I imagine if you've got a family member you'd like to share some files with, or you'd like the option when you travel to access your files without having to carry the whole set with you (e.g.: risk of computer theft), a NAS might appeal.
7.) Compare costs. Let's take a sample scenario:
1.)
UGREEN NASync DXP4800 4-Bay Desktop NAS. There's a Plus version with 10 Gbps ethernet port and greatly expandable RAM, at added cost. The non-Plus is nearly $470 (I like round numbers), a pair of Seagate IronWolf Pro, 8 TB, Enterprise NAS Internal HDD (listed as often bought with it) add around $400, and we'll ignore the option to add SSD storage. Set in a RAID I array, and if I understand correctly, you'll have 8 TB storage that is mirrored to a backup. You could add 2 more for another $400 and have 16 TB storage.
So, $900 for 8 TB storage of $1,300 for 16 TB storage that you can access anywhere you can get online, and most of this system ought to last you 2 or maybe 3 computer systems' lifespans I'm guessing? And can serve as a backup and media hub for a range of devices?
2.) You buy a MacBook Pro with an 8 TB internal SSD. Very convenient, very fast, and yet...trapped inside this Mac, which you probably won't use over 8 years if that long. Doesn't have built-in redundancy. Not made to serve as a media hub for multiple devices (I'm not saying it can't be done). If the SSD fails, I believe that tends to brick your system (you gonna pay for extended Apple Care+?). When you buy your next Mac, plan to pay out another $2,400 for whatever the 'real big' internal SSD is then (maybe 12 TB?).
One last thing, and it can be a drawback or a positive (if you're inquisitive and like learning about things). I don't have a NAS but I'm NAS-curious, and the world of NAS is quite the rabbit hole. The big name with extensive support is Synology, but I've heard starting with 2025 models they lock you into buying their branded hard drives, which command a premium price (gee, that remind you of anybody?), so you want the 2024 and earlier. There are YouTube videos getting into the topic of a first NAS.
