new SSD - APFS not in list of options for format

I just put a new SSD in my 2011 Macbook Pro. I booted into Internet Recovery (CMD+R), ran Disk Utility and followed the instructions to go to 'erase' and format as APFS. Unfortunately, the 'Format' dropdown menu only shows the standard Mac OS Extended options, MS-DOS and ExtFat.

Do I need to boot into Mac OS from a flash drive and then format the SSD from there... or what am I doing wrong?

Disk Utility looks like it's pre-Yosemite [skeuomorphic dots top left] which will have no idea what APFS is.
Try booting to Internet Recovery using Cmd ⌘ Opt ⌥ R & you should get the chance to install the latest OS the machine can run, rather than the one it came with.

You should also get a Disk Utility that understands APFS.