[en] The nominal-design SSC (Superconducting Super Collider) dipole encloses the coil in an iron yoke having a circular aperture. The radial gap between the coil and the iron is about 15 mm to provide space for a strong annular collar around the coil, and also to reduce the effects of iron saturation on central field harmonics. The 15 mm gap also reduces the desirable dipole field contributed by the iron. The present paper gives a coil and aperture configuration in which the gap is reduced to 5 mm at the midplane, in which the aperture is shaped to reduce the unwanted effects of iron saturation. The transfer function is increased about 5% at 6.6 Tesla and the unwanted harmonics are within SSC tolerances at all field levels. These designs would require that the yoke and containment vessel absorb the stresses due to assembly and magnetic forces. A short magnet is being built with a close-in shaped iron aperture and existing coil geometry to assess the benefits of this concept. 7 refs., 3 figs., 6 tabs