Unable to import iphone photos to mac photo library

I've got a brand new external hard drive to put all my old photos in, created a photo library in it and plug my iphone 12 in. tried to import all 30000+ photos into it but it would not start. if I click import all new items, it would direct me to the imported page, which is blank. If I only select a few photos, same story. Someone pls help! My phone is in 18.4.1 (can't update cuz don't got enough storage- why I need to transfer old photos out!!), macbook in Sequioa 15.5.

Oh and I was stuck on "prepare to import from iphone" for the longest time, read some threads and toggling on airplane mode fixes it.